A Diamond In The Rough
by Fandom-Geek17
Summary: Arya never thought vacation in King's Landing could lead to anything good. Until she meets a certain blue eyed man pouring drinks in the bar... Modern AU!
1. Chapter 1

**NEW ATHOUR'S NOTE: So I've gotten some review saying Arya is a total bitch, and I actually agree. Which is why I've re-written it, so the foundation is still there but Arya's behavior is different. I wasn't 100% percent happy with it when I wrote it anyway and was considering a re-write and have now gotten it confirmed that should, so I hope you're all happier with this one.**

 **So this is a very short AU, I'm planning eight chapters at most. Arya is with going on a sort of bonding trip with her sister and parents and doesn't exactly think it can help with her insecurities when it comes to Sansa. But then she meets a certain blue eyed beauty at the pool bar ;) Enjoy!**

Chapter 1

" _Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. We are beginning out descend to King's Landing City airport"_ the cool voice of the captain sounded through the speakers.

 _Finally…_ Arya thought. Not that she minded the four hour flight. It was the old man with motion sickness behind her that she minded. Half an hour after the plane took off he began coughing, belching and groaning. And during the fourth hour it had really began to get on her last nerve.

Also, she was cramped next to her prefect sister who insisted on wearing that sickly sweet perfume which made Arya feel like she was being suffocated by cotton candy.

Sansa really was perfect in every way. She had and was everything Arya wasn't. Unlike Arya who had inherited the hard Stark look with a long face, lifeless brown hair and boring grey eyes, Sansa had their mother's gentle face, luscious auburn locks and sparkling blue Tully eyes. Sansa had a killer body that fitted on a catwalk whilst Arya had to stuff every angle if she wanted to look feminine.

Her darling sister also had perfect grades and she didn't even have to try! She flashed a dazzling smile at her teachers and _bam,_ straight A's! At least Arya _earned_ her grades.

Sansa was everything a perfect little lady should be, polite, beautiful, feminine and charming. And the worst thing was; nobody _ever_ stopped throwing it in Arya's face!

' _Why can't you be more like your sister?' 'Your sister never nags.' 'It wouldn't hurt to try and be polite every once in a while, Arya. Just look at Sansa.' 'Arya, did you hear? Sansa got an A in History!'_

Not a day went by without Arya hearing at least one of those phrases mostly from her mom. And Arya suspected it wouldn't get any better on this _three week_ vacation in King's Landing.

But she tried, she really did, yet no one seemed to notice her. She got good grades, did well in her fencing group, competed and had a lot of friends back home. Yet all her mother saw was Sansa. Only two people really appreciated her, and that was Jon and her dad.

The great and powerful Eddard Stark had finally taken some time off from running his company to spend three weeks of the summer in King's Landing. Though according to Arya, it hardly counted as vacation. He would still attend that meeting and that meeting with Robert Baratheon and attend this charity ball and that benefit because it was good publicity.

Sansa was thrilled at the idea of attending multiple black tie events in the capital because it would give her an excuse to spend time with the Baratheon golden boy (literally) and heir, _Joffrey Baratheon._ Arya would rather fling herself off of the highest tower in the Red Keep than spend time with that fucking prick.

She and Sansa were the only ones coming on this vacation south. Arya suspected her parents had a secret agenda and hoped that the two sisters could put away their differences and bond over this trip.

Robb had moved in with his fiancé Jeyne Westerling and had work. Jon had moved north of The Wall with his girlfriend Ygritte. Bran was spending some time with the Reeds at their summer house and Rickon was at summer camp. Arya could only imagine what the little rascal was putting the camp leaders through. She smirked as idea after idea crossed her mind.

Arya felt the familiar suction like pull in her stomach as the plane started to descend and started chewing on some gum to avoid conductive hearing loss.

Twenty minutes later, the captain signaled that it was allowed to leave the plane. Her parents sat calmly and waited for their luggage, discussing some work related issue whilst Sansa texted furiously with either Jeyne Poole (the one who used to call Arya 'Horseface' and not Robb's fiancé who was stiff but a good person) or Margaery (the better of Sansa's friends).

She was already drenching in sweat from the thick heat, and this was nothing compared to Dorne they said. But Arya was from the north were they had summer snows and the winter could make your bones freeze. She loved the cold, it was refreshing and cleared her mind and lungs whenever she needed it. This weather was dry and suffocating, they had been _inside_ for half an hour and Arya already felt like she couldn't breathe. But still, a vacation is a vacation so no complaining.

Eventually they found all their bags and made their way into a taxi to take them to the hotel, which turned out to be _huge_. She knew it would be big, she had seen pictures when her dad booked the flight and rooms, but it was even bigger in real life.

It consisted of one huge main house made of creamy white bricks and two smaller houses, one on either side. Along with the long lines of sun chairs came three pools. One for kids with slides stairs to help the kids walk in and out, one for the professional swimmers who worked out and one for the basic tourists who only entered the pool to cool of once in a while. Behind the main house, Arya could see a garden with palm trees peeking out.

"It's beautiful" Sansa breathed, astonished.

"Mhm" Arya agreed, quite impressed herself.

She had hoped her parents would take the trip to Braavos, the city of parties, fun and individuality. But her mom, the prude that she was, was frightened by the liveliness there and her dad told her that he still needed to work and couldn't do that in Braavos. Stupid… But still, this hotel though…

After they checked in her father spoke up. "I suggest we all freshen up before we meet up here in the lobby for lunch" he said whilst handing out the keys and _all inclusive_ cards to them. Arya thanked the gods that she and Sansa had separate rooms. She knew what sharing a room with Sansa would lead to, and Arya didn't want to argue with her sister more than usual.

The ride in the elevator beside the reception up to the fourth (and final) floor was filled with an awkward silence between them. When the bell rang, Sansa grabbed the handle of her suitcase and walked out without a word, Arya followed shortly after. She swiped the keycard and opened the door.

The room was small but luxurious. The walls were white like the rest of the building. One door led to the bathroom and the other to the bedroom. In the living room she had a couch and a coffee table, a TV and plants stationed around the room. A small area was designated for coffee making and other morning activities.

Arya opened the door to the bedroom and dropped the suitcase onto the bed. She pulled out a towel and her toiletries before walking inside the bathroom to have a shower.

Usually she showered with the water scalding. However considering the heat, the water was a lot cooler and for a moment the refreshing feeling of coolness was back. Arya made a mental note to end the days with a cold shower.

She was well aware of how her mother would want her to change into a summer dress and braid her hair all nicely. Not wanting to start another argument, she reluctantly put on the stupid blue summer dress but let her hair be.

Her mom and Sansa were both dressed in yellow sundresses and her dad in a button down shirt and jeans. _In this fucking heat? How?_

The next dispute since just before they boarded the plane took place at the table whilst they waited for their food. Her mom and Sansa wanted to start the sightseeing immediately and scolded Arya for just wanting to slack by the pool. Her argument was that they were going to be here for three weeks and there was no rush.

Soon enough, her dad interrupted them and said that why didn't they just do what they wanted? He was going to stay underneath a parasol to work on some numbers for tomorrow's meeting and Arya could keep him company whilst Catelyn and Sansa went shopping or whatever it was they wanted to do.

Had she mentioned how much she loved her dad? He understood her so well. He always had. They both knew she wasn't about to just sit underneath the parasol with him, she was going to walk around, swim and just be by the pool.

After lunch and she was left alone, Arya discarded the dress and opted for a green bikini top and white shorts. She had taken a stroll through the garden behind the houses and sat down for a while to talk to her dad.

Again though, the heat was starting to get to her and she desperately craved a drink. But the nearest faucet she could think of was back in her room and well, Arya was athletic but lazy when it came to the small things.

But then she noticed the bar beside one of the pools. Success! How had she not seen that before? Eh… Whatever! She slowly made her way to her feet and stretched to bring back some energy to her body.

Her mind had been wandering to everywhere and nowhere but Arya was forcefully yanked back to reality when she noticed the guy standing in the bar, pouring a drink for the awaiting customer. She could have sworn she lost her breath for a moment.

The hotness of this guy was unbelievable. It should be fucking illegal! His hair was jet black and messy, the kind of messy she just wanted to run her fingers through, his eyes a dark shade of blue you could melt into. He was wearing the standard working shirt but hadn't done the buttons (due to the warmth she guessed). Sadly he was wearing a white tank under. Pity… Judging by his arms, oh _fuck_ his arms – those biceps could rip that shirt clean off, he would have some killer abs. She gladly would have eye fucked those up and down.

What the fuck? Was she turning into Sansa? If she was, maybe it was worth it just for this guy. God damn, he was hot!

She braced herself and her melting ovaries and walked up to him just as the other customer was leaving. She flashed him a smile she hoped was sexy and he smirked back.

"A bit young for alcohol, aren't you?" he asked with a frown embedded in that smirk.

Arya glanced down for a moment. He must have judged her by her barely existing curves. _Oh…_ This wasn't the first time this situation had occurred.

She pointed to the sign nailed to the side of the bar. "This says that you have to be eighteen or above to buy alcohol. I'm eighteen." She pointed to herself. Bar Guy raised his eyebrow back at her. Arya pulled her Iphone case from her pocket and opened it to pull out her id to show him.

Bar Guy checked out her id and his smirk widened. "Stark, eh?" He eyed her again. "As in you must be the daughter of big shot Stark?"

She didn't like how this guy called her dad 'big shot'. Sure, technically he was a big shot but there were better terms to describe him. "Yes, but don't call him that."

He bowed slightly. "Forgive me. Now, what kind of alcohol would _Milady_ like?"

"Don'tcall me Milady! I'm not a lady, just Arya."

"As Milady commands!" His bow deepened.

"If you didn't work here, I'd kick you in the balls!"

He smirked at her again. "Please don't. I like my balls and I intend to keep them working for a long time." She wasn't sure if she should be aroused or disgusted by that statement. But since his voice was so mother fucking deep, raspy and sexy and her ovaries were dripping, why not choose aroused? "Seriously though" Bar Guy said. "I have a job to do and money to earn, so what kind of alcohol will it be?"

"No alcohol" Arya stated. "Just water, please."

"Regular or sparkling, lime?" Bar Guy asked and filled a glass with ice.

"Sparkling. And lime." She handed him her _all inclusive_ card and he swiped it.

"Here you go" he said and handed her both the drink and her card.

"Thanks." She was about to turn around and go when the impulsive part of her brain took over. "What's your name anyway?"

"Gendry." He held out a hand for her to shake. She took it and felt the warmth spread from his hand into her own body, almost like sparks. "Gendry Waters."

"Arya Stark." She shook his hand.

"I know." His voice was exaggeratingly posh. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Milady."

"I told you not to call me that!" Arya tried to be mad at him, but she just couldn't. How could anyone be mad at that smirk? She took her drink and walked off. But then turned around and flashed him a smile. "See you around, Gendry!"

He held up his hand in a wave and gave her what could only be described as a genuine smile.

 **NEW AUTHOR'S NOTE: I did my best to correct it, hope that suits your needs.**

 **There you have it! Don't judge me too harshly! This fanfic came out of nowhere and despite me having a plan for it, I'm not sure where I'm going. Make sense? Anyway… I'll update soon…I hope…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wait? What's this? I'm active? Well, would you look at that, I'm actually updating something! I think the writing spirit is slowly returning to me so hopefully I'll update more frequently. But here is chapter 2 out of 8!**

 **Enjoy!**

Chapter 2

Arya awoke with the sun streaming in through the window. After groaning loudly she checked the time. 05:32. She groaned again. Why in the name of the seven gods was she woken _now?_ But then she remembered that she had only herself to blame. Back in Winterfell the sun never raised until quite late in the morning so there was never any need to draw the curtains. Here the sun raised a lot earlier so she should have remembered to close them.

Since she never could fall back asleep once she had woken, she decided to take a morning swim the pool. With her bikini under her tunic and shorts and her towel and a magazine stuffed in her beach bag she made her way down.

The sky was colored a bright purple and pink and the sun shined blindingly yellow. The lines of sun chairs were empty, but she had expected that. Arya was sure she was alone when she heard a splash from one of the pools.

She turned around and her jaw fell. That mop of hair could only belong to one person. Gendry was swimming face down in the pool, his wet hair flowing in the water and the muscles in his back played in a way that made her knees weak.

 _Shit!_

What should she do? Say hi? Walk away and pretend she didn't see him? Go to the nearest beach instead? Why was this so hard? She barely knew the guy. The only thing she _did_ know about him was his name, where he worked and that he was strikingly hot!

Just when Arya had turned around to walk back to her room she heard a splash and his god damn sexy voice call out for her.

"Arya?"

She turned around and basically died on the spot. He climbed up the ladder to the pool like a fucking _Abercrombie and Fitch_ model with water dripping from his rippling body. Like a soft waterfall from his hair, down his torso, over his glorious abs she now saw properly for the first time, through his swimming trunks that were plastered onto his skin and _oh gods_ she could see the outline of his member. Arya had to clear her throat and rub her thighs closer together to ease the ache that had started pounding down there.

 _Stop it! You don't know him!_

"Hi" Arya croaked out and cleared her throat again. He smiled at her and ran his hand through his hair, messing it up. Jesus Christ! Was he doing this on purpose? She tried to focus on anything else so she looked at the trail of water Gendry left behind him as he walked over to a sun chair to fetch his towel.

"You're up early" Gendry remarked and wiped his face with the towel.

"The sun raises a lot earlier here than at home so I woke up now." She shrugged and sat down on the sun chair opposite his.

"Where are you from?" Gendry sat down as well, leaning forwards with his elbows on his thighs.

"Winterfell…" Arya could feel the dopey grin spread across her face but Gendry's smile only widened.

"You're far from home then…"

Arya nodded slowly. She felt a stupid lump in her throat and swallowed in hope that it would go away. It was quiet for a moment, and she dared a small peak at him. However she instantly regretted it. Water was still dripping from his messy hair and his body seemed to flaunt itself in her face. _Come and fuck me sore!_

With an almost desperate gesture at the pool, she said "Does your boss let you swim here?"

Gendry glanced at the pool with a small smirk. Then he shrugged. "I have the early shift so I usually come here a bit early. It's free exercise and the boss hasn't said anything yet so…" He took a quick look at his watch. "Speaking of which, my shift starts in fifteen so I better change."

"Okay" Arya squeaked. When he stood up and squared his shoulders to soften them after what looked like a good work out session earlier Arya felt the stupid ache grow stronger. "I guess I'll see you around then?" She got a good look at his back muscles when he turned around to grab his towel.

"Absolutely" Gendry answered and gave her a smile that had her ovaries melting before she walked away towards the bar where he picked up a bag and disappeared into the backroom of the bar.

In a daze, Arya wandered back to her room, having completely forgotten about why she went to the pool in the first place. On her way back, she met up with her parents. They were talking to the receptionist.

"Good morning, sweet girl" her dad said and smiled at her. "We were just about to go for a morning walk. Do you want to join us?"

Arya shook her head. "I'm fine. I was just walking back to my room." She noticed how her mom shot her a look but Arya ignored her. "I'll see you later."

She left her parents there and entered the lift. The man standing inside there already gave her a small smile which Arya returned. Arya was used to that look her mom gave her. Every teenager should know it. That small purse of the lips and slight flare of the nostrils that appeared when the teenager does something that his or her parent doesn't approve of. She got it when she bought clothes, chose extracurricular activities and when she first started fencing.

But being used to it didn't make it hurt any less… Catelyn Stark always seemed to refuse to acknowledge when her younger daughter actually did something good and only give _that_ look when Arya did something she didn't like.

After taking a quick shower and changing into something she hoped could please both her and her mom's constant need for her daughters to dress classy, a pair of worn denim shorts and a white blouse she hadn't used in the past year. Her hair was put in a ponytail and then she took the elevator down to the lobby where her sister sat, scrolling through her phone.

"Hey" Arya greeted curtly.

Sansa didn't look up from her phone. "Hello" she answered in the same tone.

Arya sat down in the chair next to her sister, she was aware she could use another tone if she ever wanted to create a bond between them. "Do you know if mom and dad are back yet?" Hopefully the change of attitude could help.

Again though, Sansa didn't look up. "If you had checked your phone you'd see that they wrote in the group chat that they'll be back any minute and then we'll eat."

So a change of tone from Arya's side didn't make anything different then…

And indeed, they had written in the chat.

It was remarkable how Arya could go from such a good mood to feeling that slight stab in her chest whenever Sansa was favored.

Soon her parents returned from their walk and Arya deliberately sat next to her dad during breakfast. She knew what was happening today. Her dad would go to a meeting with Robert Baratheon and his corporate crowd – she knew her dad hated those meetings. However Arya was being dragged around on a sightseeing trip with her mom and sister.

Now, Arya gladly would have gone sightseeing if it actually _involved_ sightseeing. Catelyn and Sansa Stark's view on sightseeing was shopping and getting their hair and nails done for the upcoming benefit in two days.

Arya wanted to actually _see_ the city. Watch the ships in the harbor, climb Ageon's Hill and see the town from above, visit the local markets to buy useless trinkets, see the historical monuments and go to the beach and swim in the ocean. She wanted to experience what she could only get outside the fancy part of town.

As expected, they took a cab to one of the fancy squares that were filled with all kinds of girly stores. The first store they went into sold evening dresses. All the colors almost blinded Arya and she immediately sought out the darker aisle.

"Honey, these are funeral dresses" a clerk told her carefully. "Your mother said the three of you were looking for a dress you could wear to a benefit."

"So?" Arya questioned and nonchalantly checked the price tag on one of the dresses. "They're black, and I like black."

"Arya, why don't you try this dress on?" her mom called. Arya turned around and her face twisted in disgust.

"You're not making me try on a _pink_ dress! I'd rather wear a burlap sack!"

The clerk eyed her for a moment. "I take it you're not a _girly_ girl?" There wasn't anything menacing in her tone. It seemed more as if the woman was trying to understand her, which she liked. Most salesmen only tried to get her into pink and frilly things.

"No…" Arya managed a smile. "I suppose most people would call me a tomboy."

The clerk nodded slowly. Then she walked into another aisle and disappeared for a minute. Arya was just about to follow the woman when she returned with a marine blue dress with long sleeves and decorative gems in the same color along the neck line. It wasn't…horrible…

"This is really from our latest winter collection" the clerk said and showed her the dress. "But I think it'd look good on you." Arya nodded carefully.

XXX

But of course… When Arya was for once able to find a dress she could imagine wearing to the stupid benefit, she wasn't allowed to wear it. Arya could almost say that she had liked the dress but then her mom had stepped in and said that she couldn't wear it because it was a winter dress and it was too dull.

So instead, she was forced into this hideous leaf green dress, strapless, a leaf- and _acorn_ pattern along the skirt hems and a faint glitter pattern of the leafs and acorns along it. Awful! The clerk tried to argue for the dark blue dress because she understood how Arya felt but her mother wouldn't have it. Now she was stuck with the acorn dress. Even when Arya did something girly, it had to be according to her mother's standards! Stupid…

She watched from a corner how her mom and Sansa giddily picked out shoes in another shop, trying on every pair they could find. It was in moment like these when Arya secretly wished she really was a bit more girly so she could spend time with the female part of her family without feeling like an outsider. She felt the familiar knot in her stomach and the small burn in her eyes but she stubbornly blinked the feeling away. She would not let it affect her. Not in public.

That was the thing. To the outside world her life was perfect, but on the inside she struggled to feel loved. She had her father and Jon whom she both loved to death, but once in a while she wanted to feel like she had a loving mother as well…

"Arya?" Sansa said, breaking her out from her miserable thoughts.

"Huh?" Arya blinked a couple of times.

"I said; we're ready to pay."

"Okay…" She followed her sister to the cashier and her mom who immediately asked why Arya hadn't picked anything out. "I don't need new shoes" Arya answered stiffly.

Her mom sighed. "Okay. You don't seem to be having much fun, so where do you want to go?"

Arya lit up. "The Dragon Pit" she answered without hesitation.

The Dragon Pit was a museum with depictions and skeletons of ancient animals that went extinct thousands of years ago, everything from the wooly mammoth to allegedly… _dragons_. Hence the name. But Arya's favorite was the skeleton and depictions of Direwolves she knew would be there. Direwolves were the sigil of her family but she had never seen one outside the internet and this was the closest she could come to seeing them.

"Very well" her mother said as she paid. "I suppose a cultural experience is always good." Arya nodded in agreement.

She felt a lot happier whilst slowly wandering through the rows of skeletons, statue-like animals and framed facts. This was a lot more her thing than shopping for shoes or dresses. Here she could enjoy her time, and even though Catelyn mostly stuck to only reading the facts and Sansa didn't really pay attention at all, Arya felt like maybe she could bond a little with them.

"Hey, mom!" Arya called. "Look, there are direwolves over here. Like our family sigil!" She dragged her mom to the direwolf skeletons and read out loud from the facts.

"That it most impressive" Catelyn said slowly. "Your father would have been delighted to see this."

"Maybe we could bring him sometime?" Arya asked hopefully. She was almost bouncing with excitement. But the excitement died when her mom suddenly looked grim.

"Maybe…" But before Arya could ask what the problem was, Sansa opened her big trap.

"Mom, are we done here soon? The benefit is in _two days_ and I need to book appointments for hair, nails, makeup _and_ a facial!"

That was the thing with Sansa. She could be nice and considerate when she wanted to. But she could also be shallow, rude and downright mean when she wanted to. To anyone of importance such as her parents, strangers their father's co-workers she was the perfect little lady Sansa Stark. To Arya however, well let's just say Arya didn't like to spend time with her for a reason.

Had Arya been more lady-like and girly, she was sure things would be different between them. But she wasn't and Sansa couldn't accept that no more than Arya could stop resenting her for it.

"Yes of course, dear" their mom answered immediately. _Of course_ Sansa's stupid hair was more important than Arya's happiness. She instantly walked away and pretended to be very interested about what Darwin had said about Dodos. "Arya, could you hurry up a bit?"

Arya who had turned away from them in order to stop them from seeing how upset she was, merely nodded. Then she took a deep breath and glued on her indifferent face.

"Let's just go now, then" she said and turned around.

"I'm sorry?" her mom said who had been speaking to Sansa about updos. "What did you say?"

"I said; let's just leave now. Sansa needs a hair appointment." And she stalked quickly towards the exit, closing her eyes for a brief moment.

XXX

Back in her hotel room after having dinner and bid goodnight to the rest of her family, she curled up on the sofa with her pajamas and the TV on. If only Jon was here, she thought. He would have made her feel better. He also understood how much it hurt to feel left out from the rest of this dysfunctional family.

Jon would hug her tightly, and then her ever loyal dog Nymeria would sense that something was wrong. She would whine before hopping up on the bed and lying down next to them, placing her head in Arya's lap. Arya would pet her for a while, and then the three of them would go for a long walk in the woods around Winterfell.

But she couldn't have that here…

So instead she walked to the window and leaned the side of her head against the cool glass. There, among two other workers, stood Gendry in the garden behind the hotel. Both of them were male and seemed to joking about something since Gendry first wacked one of them on the back of the head, but smiled. Then a couple of seconds later, he attacked the other one in the same manner that Robb and Jon always attacked each other before they started wrestling.

She watched them wrestle around for a couple of minutes before the first one said something that made them both look up and start laughing. Arya couldn't help but smile herself. Jon might not be here, but maybe she could rely on someone else to make this trip a little brighter…

 **We'll see when I post the next update. It'll depend both on if I feel like writing and if I have the time, I'm going to be busy this summer. But hopefully I'll be able to scrape up a couple of hours to write.**

 **See you soon, hopefully! CONSTRUCTIVE reviews are welcome!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Jesus, it seems my creative spirit is back and I hope it's here to stay for a while! So here is the next chapter for you all, it's a bit broody just so you know…**

 **Enjoy!**

Chapter 3

Arya squirmed in her seat when the car stopped. There would be no turning back now. No matter how much she would have liked to fake a sickness to get out of it, she knew she couldn't. Both Ned and Catelyn would see through it. So hear she was, dressed in the hideous gown and on her way to attend one of Robert Baratheon's benefits.

Her dad helped her out of the car and she wobbled a bit in her heels. He put a calming and helping hand on her shoulder.

"I know you don't like this" her dad said quietly. "But you do look beautiful."

Arya nodded. "Thank you…" He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then offered her his arm, which she took. With the support from her dad, hopefully she wouldn't fall.

"Let's go then."

Arya followed as gracefully as she could. The ugly acorn dress was on, she had been forced into a pair of Sansa's heels. The hair stylist had pulled her hair into an updo so tight that Arya was sure to have a headache by the end of the day, and the makeup artist had worked so much on Arya's face that she barely could recognize her own reflection. She hated it, absolutely hated it!

Arya, her dad, mom and Sansa made their way up to the Red Keep where the benefit would held place. Sansa had gushed about since before the trip here and Arya hoped she would shut up now that she was here. Admittedly, the Red Keep was located on Aegon's Hill which was one of the places she wanted to visit, however she wanted to climb the many stairs like the rest of the common folk, she didn't want to be driven up by a limo.

The office music along with the sound of chatting people filled their ears as they walked inside. Waiters walked around with champagne glasses and appetizers on trays and the other guests talked, walked and drank.

"Ned, my man" a booming voice bellowed. They turned around to see a huge man waddling towards them. Big in size, wiry black hair and a wispy beard. His blue eyes were reddened. Robert Baratheon was probably already intoxicated.

"Hello, Robert" her dad greeted politely and accepted the hug Robert was offering.

"Cat" Robert then exclaimed in a hearty tone and turned towards Arya's mom with a gesture that threatened to split the seams in his suit. Although it was obvious to Arya that her mom didn't like anyone but her dad to call her 'Cat' she still smiled politely like the graceful lady that she was.

"Robert" she greeted and gave him a quick hug.

After that, Robert turned his attention towards the two Stark daughters. "These must be your daughters. I haven't seen the two of you since you were babies!"

"Ah yes" Ned said and put one hand on each of their shoulders. "This is Sansa." He gestured towards his older daughter who flashed a blinding smile and shook Roberts hand without question. "And this is Arya."

Suddenly Robert's face seemed to change. He went from a slightly tipsy but hearty man to someone who seemed to have lost everything in life. " _Arya_ Stark?" he choked out.

"Yes…" Arya answered carefully and tried not to seem appalled at his sudden behavior. "It's nice to meet you."

He didn't answer at first but then he cleared his throat. "You look so much like her." Arya didn't need to ask anyone who he meant by _her_. It was common knowledge that Robert had been in love with her aunt, Lyanna Stark, but she never returned his affection. Lyanna had been a troubled woman who had died of an illness, though no one seemed to be sure if it was actually an illness or an overdose. Ned knew, but he never shared that bit of information with anybody.

Arya forced a smile and tried to retreat her hand, however Robert seemed reluctant to let go. After yanking her hand a bit more forcefully back she scooted closer to her dad where she felt safer.

"Well" Robert cleared his throat again. "Help yourselves to the champagne and wine. I'll make the introductions to my wife and children and then we will have ourselves one hell of a party."

The Starks followed Robert further into the great hall filled with people until they stood face to face with a blond pile. Arya immediately recognized the Lannisters.

"My wife, Cersei" Robert announced, though without much enthusiasm. Arya watched the ill will on Cersei Lannister's (technically Baratheon's) face as her dad bent to kiss her hand.

"Mr Stark" she said coldly. "It's a delight to meet you." The phrase was meant to be polite.

"Likewise, Lady Cersei" her dad answered.

Her mom and Cersei greeted before Robert moved on. "And these are my three children. Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen." All three of them had their mother's looks with flowing blond hair and green eyes, yet they were completely different. Arya knew Joffrey was a smug bastard like his mother. Myrcella seemed like the sweet perfect little princess in her golden dress and styled curly hair, and Tommen was a plump boy in Bran's age who looked a bit like he wasn't sure how he got there.

The youngest two seemed innocent enough, but Arya didn't like the way Joffrey eyed Sansa. No matter how bad the two Stark sisters got along, Sansa was infatuated with Joffrey and couldn't see what he was, and Arya didn't want her sister to go through that.

"Sansa" Joffrey said with a self absorbed smile and offered her his arm. "I'll show you around the Red Keep." Sansa's face lit up and a pink blush spread across her cheeks. She nodded. Arya stifled a groan of annoyance, and she didn't miss the look on her parents' faces when Joffrey walked away with Sansa.

"Arya, why don't you spend some with Tommen?" Robert suggested and took a large swig of wine from his glass. Arya glanced at Tommen who stood and scraped his feet into the floor.

"With all due respect, Robert, I would really like to socialize a bit." And with that she walked off, but not before receiving a version of the look her mom gives her, though this time from Cersei. This version however was ten times worse with the coldness in her eyes.

In truth, she didn't _want_ to socialize, she wanted to go back to the hotel and sit by the pool and pretend to read a fitness magazine when in truth she ogled Gendry as he poured drinks to the other guests. _Wait, what?_

But she did try to speak with the other guests. The only problem was that it was impossible. These people could only talk about two things, work and the weather. And whenever Arya tried to speak to them about something else, politics, food, the benefit itself, _anything_ , they dismissed her. Even when she actually _did_ ask them about their work, they gave her short answers and went back to their previous conversation.

Unbelievable, these people were too posh to be true!

She could only be grateful as they were asked to be seated and await the first course. After dinner, awards were presented to the left and the right. Person after person stepped onto the small stage to invite another person up to accept an award for this and that. Arya only really paid attention when her dad presented an award to Margaery Tyrell for her work with orphans.

Margaery accepted the award and blabbed on about how important it is to care about everyone, especially the ones who have it tougher than you.

Applaud after applaud, Arya's hands were beginning to feel numb. Her feet hurt from the stupid heels and so did her head, only slightly numbed by the one glass of champagne she had consumed earlier. She was tired and all she wanted was to lie down in bed and watch a bad movie and then fall asleep. She couldn't stifle the yawn that broke out.

"Arya!" her mom hissed. "Manners!"

Arya rolled her eyes. "If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

Inside the bathroom, Arya leaned against one of the basins and closed her eyes. She just wanted to go home! Just as she was about to take of her shoes and check on the blisters, another woman came in. She looked to be in her early forties and had obviously had plastic surgery done to her face. Arya nodded at her in hope that she would walk inside one of the stalls, but she didn't. Instead the woman began to touch up her makeup so Arya had to flee elsewhere.

She walked through a short corridor and found herself in a small room with a couch and other doors that lead further into the house, as well as a grand staircase that lead to the second floor. And on that couch sat Sansa. She didn't look happy. Her shoulders slumped and she fidgeted with her hands in her lap.

"Sansa?" Arya asked carefully. Her sister looked up and she immediately straightened and she swept back her long luscious auburn locks in a graceful gesture.

"Arya" Sansa answered, her voice a bit cracked but she cleared her throat and glued on one of her smiles, but Arya saw through that.

"What are you doing back here?" Arya didn't sit down next to her sister, unsure of how Sansa would take that. Instead she stood a couple of feet away from the couch and awkwardly played with her skirt.

"Joffrey is getting me some more champagne." There was a false gleeful tone in her voice.

"Back here?" Sansa only rolled her eyes in response so Arya decided to just say what was on her mind. "Sansa, you shouldn't be with Joffrey."

Sansa's face immediately got stony and cold. Her nostrils flared and sparks seemed to fly out of her red hair. "And what would _you_ know about that?"

Arya folded her arms across her chest and took a step forward. "I know that Joffrey isn't good for you, anyone, even an idiot can see him for what he is!"

Sansa stood up as well. "And what would that be?"

"A self-absorbed dickhead who doesn't care about anyone other than himself!"

"You're just jealous!" Sansa accused hotly and gestured towards Arya who stood with her mouth gaping in disbelief.

"Why in the seven hells would I be jealous of you?!"

Sansa laughed sarcastically. "You've _always_ been jealous of me! That's why you're always so mean! You're jealous of everything about me!"

What hurt the most about that last comment was the fact that it was sort of true. She wasn't jealous of _everything about Sansa_ , but she was jealous of the positive response Sansa always got no matter what she did. But she wasn't about to confess that.

"I'm only trying to help you!" Arya screamed instead. "I don't want you to be his next victim!"

 _"_ _Victim?"_ Sansa repeated with venom in her tone. "Joffrey is a true gentleman! He is perfect in every way, more than I can say about you! You don't know anything about love or relationships!"

"Joffrey doesn't love you, Sansa!" Arya desperately tried to get her sister to understand. Joffrey was just like his mother, he didn't care for or love anyone but himself.

"What the hell would you know?" Sansa shouted. Her face had taken a rosy pink tone.

"I've had a boyfriend!" Arya argued, her mind flashing back to Edric Dayne for a split second.

" _One_ boyfriend, and how long did he last?" Sansa's tone was now mocking instead.

"A month" Arya confessed.

"Exactly" Sansa sneered.

"But _I_ dumped _him_ because he was way too clingy!" Arya screamed.

"You don't know anything, Arya! Just get out of my sight before Joffrey comes back!" Arya could feel a lump in her throat and tears stung in the corners of her eyes but she didn't let them fall, she didn't move. "You always ruin everything! Go!" That felt like a blow to her heart and she swiftly turned around to storm out of the room.

But halfway out, she tripped in Sansa's stupid heels. She kicked them off, picked them up and threw them in Sansa's direction. They landed beside the couch. Arya gave her sister the middle finger to emphasize how much she hated her right now and then stormed off in only her stockings.

She couldn't cry until she was safely in her room so Arya did what she didn't best, she buried and sadness deep down in her brain where it would probably stay for a long time. After having glued on her indifferent face she sat quietly beside her dad for the rest of the evening.

On the way back in the limo, late in the evening, both Arya and Sansa stubbornly looked out of two different windows to avoid having to meet the other's eyes. Sansa followed her parents straight up but Arya said she needed some air.

Still in her stockings Arya walked through the empty pool area to the bar which was still lit up. In the back of her head she hoped Gendry would be there but in reality she just desperately needed something stronger than champagne.

But a small portion of the gods seemed to be on her side tonight despite everything since the dark haired and blue eyed beauty indeed stood in the bar and looked quite bored as he stowed glasses in the cabinets. She had only known him for a couple of days, but _man_ he wasn't hard to look at. And he seemed like a good person.

"Hey" Arya said and slumped down on a stool.

Gendry looked up and took in her dress and styled hair. "Hey." He was quiet for a moment. "Where did you come from?"

"A benefit." Gendry nodded and put away another glass. "Are you closed?"

He smirked. "Soon. Why, did you want a drink?" Arya who had laid her head in her arms resting on the bar bench only grunted in agreement. "Just because you went to a benefit?" She could hear the amusement in his voice.

She raised her head. "If you were cramped with all those posh fuckers who only care about their own achievements and then had a huge fight with your sister, you'd need a drink too." Her words weren't loud, but they were firm.

Gendry's eyes suddenly filled with sympathy and he put his hand on her shoulder for a second. "I'm sorry. What would you like?"

Arya shrugged. "Anything, as long as it's stronger than champagne…"

Gendry chuckled and poured her a small glass of an amber colored liquid. It smelled funny and burned its way down her throat when she took her first sip, but she relished in the feeling. It was like beating a boxing sack, only more subtle.

"You look different now" Gendry suddenly said. Arya looked up and saw a slight blush creep up his cheeks. Somehow that made him more human. Arya had seen him as a sex god for the past days that she had been here, it made him adorable along with unnaturally hot. "Different than when I've seen you before, like a proper little girl."

Arya snorted at that last comment and took a glance at the horrible acorn pattern on her dress. "I look like an oak tree with all these stupid acorns!"

Gendry's blush deepened and he smiled sheepishly at her. "Nice though, a nice oak tree…"

To her great embarrassment, Arya could feel a blush of her own creep up her cheek. She cleared her throat and downed the rest of her drink before standing up. "Shit!" she hissed. "I don't have my card or cash." She made a gesture towards the hotel. "I can run up real quick and get it or-"

"Don't worry about it" Gendry quickly interrupted. "It's on me. Just don't tell anyone that! The boss-man is pretty strict about free drinks" he added with a wink.

Arya smiled at him. "Tell him what?" she asked sarcastically, Gendry smiled back. "Goodnight, Gendry."

"Goodnight, Arya."

 **As you'll notice, I didn't copy the oak tree conversation fully, I hope no one is bothered by that! And I really liked writing Robert Baratheon and I really hope I did him justice. Did you like it? If you have any tips on how I can get better, please let me know!**

 **See you soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! Sorry the new chapter took a little long but it's a lot longer than the other ones so I think that makes up for it! Huge thank you to everyone who favorite, followed and reviewed so far! It means a lot! So with this chapter up, half the story is done! Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

They had been in King's Landing for a week and a half now. It had been about a week since Arya's fight with Sansa. So far it didn't seem like Sansa had told anyone about it, Arya as sure as hell hadn't. She had done a good job of pretending everything was okay. The only slip up had been the morning after when the tears had finally come and Arya had stayed in bed the entire morning without realizing what time it was.

Her dad had knocked on the door and called her and asked her if she was okay. Arya had quickly splashed some cold water in her face and glued on a smile when she told her dad that she just slept in and forgot about breakfast.

Sansa had spent most of the time with their mother, shopping and spending their days in the fancy part of town with the Baratheons. Her dad spent his time under a parasol, working. Arya had had her own adventures, climbing Aegon's Hill like she wanted to, dressed down and sneaked through alleys that would have her mother fainting. It made it worthwhile to come here.

"Good morning, sweet girl" her dad greeted when Arya made her way down to the pool after a late breakfast. "Did you sleep in again?"

"Yeah" Arya answered as she sat down next to him. This time she actually did sleep in, and on purpose.

It was quiet for a while before she heard someone call out for her. "Hey, Arya!" She looked up to see Gendry standing with another worker, Arya was pretty sure it was the one she wrestled with during her first week here, he waved at her.

She waved back and felt a stupid blush creep up her cheeks. "Hi!" Gendry waved one last time before he went back to the conversation with his co-worker. Stupid! She wasn't Sansa or one of her ridiculous friends who blushed like fair maidens in history books! Get a grip!

"Who was that young man, Arya?" Arya's head snapped in the other direction to see that her dad had removed his glasses – which always was an indicator that he had started to focus on something else other than his work. His eyes were slightly narrowed as he looked from his daughter's facial expression to Gendry who had said goodbye to his friend and had now taken his place at the bar.

"That's Gendry…" Arya said carefully. She didn't like the way her dad eyed him with suspicion.

"You're on a first name basis with the bartender and he calls for you before he starts his shift?" Okay, either this was about supposed alcohol that Arya consumed in order for her to call Gendry by name or her dad thought something was going on between them. "Is there something I should know?"

Arya shrugged to make it seem less of a big deal. "Only that I ordered a glass of water the first day here and we started talking."

Her dad's face changed from suspicious to smirking. "Oh? So there's nothing else going on, then?" God! It would have been easier to deal with the first alternative! She did feel _something_ for him but it would have been easier to not approach that with her dad.

"No, dad, nothing is going on! You should be glad I've made a friend here so I have something to do besides explore by myself."

"You could always spend your day with your mother and sister."

Arya felt a twinge in her heart at that. "I don't feel like more shopping, dad…" She couldn't hide the hint of sadness in her tone so she cleared her throat and stood up. "I'm going to go and get something to drink from the _first name basis bartender_." Her dad chuckled and went back to work.

Arya sauntered over to the bar and sat down on a stool without a word. She knew Gendry had seen her because he had given her a small look of acknowledgement but was busy serving another costumer so she couldn't blame him for not saying anything. He gave the other costumer her drink and she gave him a sultry look. Gendry didn't seem fazed by the costumer, Arya however felt a lump in her stomach. _That little bitch!_

"You know, if you always wear shorts to the pool you're going to get tanning lines" Gendry remarked, gesturing to the shorts she was indeed wearing.

Arya snorted. The lump hadn't disappeared but she was happy to have his attention. "Maybe it's just you who wants to see me without them..?" Gendry didn't answer, although his ears did turn noticeably red. "I'll have a coke, please" Arya said, steering the conversation away from her shorts.

Gendry smirked and filled a glass with ice and the drink she had asked for. "Here" he said and swiped the card she handed him.

"How's your day so far?" Arya asked as she sipped on her drink.

"Pretty good, it seems to be a generally calm day… Speaking of, I get of early today and me and a couple of friends of mine were thinking of going to this pub and hang out, you want to come?"

Arya looked at him for a second with her head tilted to the side. "You're inviting me to a night out with your friends?" A small smile played on her lips and she felt a weird sensation in her stomach.

Gendry's hand rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I mean well, only if you want to… Do you want to?"

"Yeah, okay!" She tried to make the heat in her cheeks go away with willpower. "When?"

"Well, I get off at five and we were planning on meeting at six. But I need to change and shower before, but I can do that in the staff room. I thought we could meet at the entrance at five thirty so we can catch a bus."

"Sounds great!" She smiled at him but that smile turned a little sour when she remembered that Catelyn Stark would never let her daughter run off to a pub with a guy she just met. There was no way she could leave without her parents knowing, she was just going to have to ask her dad for permission.

XXX

"Hey, dad?" She had caught him alone a couple of hours after lunch.

"Yes, sweet girl?" her dad replied.

Arya bit her lip slightly. "Is it okay if I go out with Gendry and his friends tonight?"

Her dad looked at her with his eyebrows raised. "The bartender?" Arya nodded. "How old is he?"

"Twenty" Arya immediately answered. She had asked him about it a couple of days earlier. "I suppose his friends are around the same age."

"And what were they planning on doing tonight?"

Crap! Gendry had been vague on that point. "Meet up and hang, at least that was what he said. So can I go?"

Her dad sighed. Arya could tell he wasn't happy with his daughter for wanting to spend the evening with people she had never met before, but she knew what he was going to say, she had heard it before. "Since you are eighteen, I can't stop you. Just be careful, okay?"

Arya's face broke out in a huge smile and she threw herself in her dad's arms. "I will. Thank you!" Her dad smiled back when he released her.

"And make sure your phone is charged so we can reach each other, and don't travel alone at nighttime, keep your drink in check so no one can spike it, don't stray from the group, don't fall for group pressure."

"Yes…" She tried to sound like the perfect obedient child but the truth was she was getting a little bit fed up with all his rules.

"And do you remember our code you're meant to text if you find yourself in danger?"

"Winter…" Arya sighed.

"And if you're being followed or such you make your way to a crowded area and call the cops!"

"Yes! Okay!" She looked expectantly at her dad for more but he remained quiet. "I'm gonna go and get ready now."

Arya turned around to leave but she was stopped. "And Arya, one more thing."

"What?" she had a tired look on her face. What could he possibly say that he hadn't already covered?

"Have fun." His eyes were soft and it rubbed off on her.

"Thank you, dad."

She made her way up to her room and stripped to take a shower. The water cascaded over her and Arya leaned her forehead against the cool tiles. Her stomach did annoying summersaults. Why was she nervous? This was definitely not the first time she had hung out with friends at a pub, and it wouldn't be the last. So why was she nervous? Maybe it was because all the rules that swirled around in her head like a vortex, or maybe because she only knew one person at the gathering?

No, that wasn't it. Arya easily made friends and wasn't afraid to approach new people. Her thoughts traveled to Gendry and just then she felt that weird sensation in the pit of her stomach. Was Gendry the reason she was nervous?

Arya sighed and started massaging some shampoo in her collarbone length hair. After rinsing and washing her body, making sure to use that shea stuff her mom had packed for her, she stepped out. She may be reluctant to girly stuff, but _man_ that shit smelled good.

She stood naked in front on the small complementary wardrobe for a while shuffling through her tops. A pair of black skinny jeans lay waiting on her bed, Arya just hoped that the warmth would have subsided enough that she wouldn't break too much of a sweat.

Soon she decided on one of her favorite t-shirts, a sapphire blue one with the black print _The North Remembers_. Pretty much the only useful tip Arya had gotten when it came to nights out with someone you were attracted to was 'wear something you're comfortable with'.

After dressing she brushed the tangles from her hair and let it dry whilst she painted a new layer of her signature black nail polish. Then came the hard part. Makeup or no makeup. She hated to use makeup a lot, she could never be one of those people who spent half an hour filling in their brows and still not notice a difference. She only used makeup when it was _really_ necessary.

It had to look like she had made an effort to look nice, but at the same time it couldn't look like she had made an effort at all. Confusing, yes. But that's how girl's brains work. In conclusion she drew a thin line on eyeliner and applied some mascara. That would surely be enough, right?

"Okay" Arya exhaled to her reflection in the mirror. Her hair had dried slightly curly so it looked quite nice. "Here we go."

She took her phone (which was fully charged) and headed out. It was a couple of minutes before she was set to meet Gendry so she leaned against one of the glass windows and tried hard not to tap her foot out of nervousness.

"Arya?"

Gendry walked towards her with a goofy smile plastered on his face. He looked freshly showered since his hair was still damp and messy. Arya was embarrassed to admit to herself that the only thing she wanted to do was to run her fingers through his hair.

"Hi" Arya said and put her hands in her pocket to avoid following through on her stupid imagination. "You're early."

"So are you" Gendry quipped. Arya chuckled. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah!"

They walked side by side to a bus stop nearby. Gendry wore a pair of dark jeans, a blue-ish grey t-shirt that brought out the color of his gorgeous eyes and a worn out black jeans jacket. Somehow the fact that it was worn out made him look even sexier.

"So where are we going?" Arya asked when they came to a stop.

"This pub I usually go to with my friends just outside or central King's Landing" he answered and offered her a smile before he checked the schedule above the waiting bench. "The bus is a couple of minutes late."

Arya shrugged. "It's alright. Who are we meeting?"

"Most of them are my friends from high school, but one of them we met through a shared love of football and hatred for the same team. We sat screaming pretty much the same thing towards a game on TV one night and we've been friends since." Arya laughed. Typical boys… Though she was guilty of doing the same thing every now and again.

Soon enough the bus arrived and Arya was pleased to notice that she could easily do the whole small talk thing with him that she could never do with the posh stuck up pricks she was forced to mingle with at events. Gendry seemed genuinely interested in her life and Winterfell and Arya wanted to know as much as she could about him.

"Do they know I'm coming?" Arya asked as they stepped off the bus, if they didn't know and didn't approve of an outsider showing up, awkward much?

"Yeah, I told them about you" he answered reassuringly. Now suddenly she was curious.

"What did you tell them?"

Gendry seemed to have a hard time not rubbing the back of his neck. Adorable! "I told them you were this cool girl I met at the hotel." Arya nodded slowly. 'Cool girl'… Was that was she was to him? Then again, if he _did_ feel the kind of attraction towards her that she did him, he probably wouldn't say so to the whole group.

The sound of indistinct chatter filled Arya's ears as they entered. People were scattered around the room, some huddled around the TV which was airing a baseball match, a couple sat on the bar stool but most of the costumers sat the tables with their drinks and occasional street foods that seemed to be on a menu featured at every table.

Gendry took her to one of the larger tables where Arya counted a total of four people. One of them had shaggy red hair and stubble. He could have reminded her of Robb if he wasn't so lanky. The second was handsome she noted despite the eye patch he covered one of his eyes with. Was he partially blind? The third one was large with curly hair and the only one who had ordered food. The fourth one was the only girl in the quartet. She was plain but definitely not ugly with her long brown hair and brown eyes. Arya noted that she sat very close to the guy with the eye patch.

"Hey, guys" Gendry greeted the group.

They looked up and a sly smile spread across the face of the red haired guy. "So you're the mystery girl" he said and nodded.

"Am not sure I'm _that_ mysterious but yeah, I'm Arya" Arya said and waved slightly.

"You have a northern accent" the guy with the eye patch remarked.

"Yes, I'm from Winterfell."

"Okay" Gendry chimed in, taking the lead. "Introductions. This is Anguy." He pointed to the red head who gave her a discreet salute. "That's Beric and Jeyne." He gestured to the guy with the eye patch and the girl. Beric nodded and Jeyne gave her a smile which Arya returned. "And that's Hot Pie – don't question, everyone calls him that." The large guy didn't look up from his food until Gendry cleared his throat and 'Hot Pie' looked with an oblivious face from Gendry to Arya until realization struck him.

"Oh right" he said. "You're the girl Gendry couldn't shut up about yesterday." Arya didn't miss how Gendry's face turned beet red. "Nice to meet you, you should try a hamburger, they're delicious here." And he went back to devouring his own. Arya wasn't sure whether to chuckle or not.

But she didn't have to decide since Gendry gestured for her to sit down and then he took a seat next to her.

"So you're from the North" Jeyne said and Arya nodded. "How long are you here for?"

"I go back in a week and a half" Arya answered. "Gendry tells me most of you are old high school buddies."

"Yeah" Beric answered with a smile. "Gendry, Anguy, Jeyne and I went to high school together. And then one drunken night right here at this bar we understood that Hot Pie here share the same hate for the Dornish football team as we do so of course we had to recruit him." Arya chuckled as Hot Pie gave them a thumbs up but didn't look up from his French fries.

"Speaking of high school buddies, where's Thoros?" Gendry asked and looked towards the bar.

"He got the flu" Jeyne said. "He said he couldn't come over."

"The flu, my ass" Anguy muttered. "He's flirting with that girl working at the gas station. I'll bet my bow on it!"

"You're an archer?" Arya asked, suddenly finding Anguy way more interesting.

"Yep" he answered proudly and pounded his fist over his heart. "Best in King's Landing."

"Until that guy beat you last month" Gendry remarked with a wink but Anguy didn't seem fazed.

"Details" he said and waved nonchalantly.

A waitress walked up to them with her note pad ready. She looked a bit like Gendry with her black hair that was pulled back in a ponytail and her blue eyes. "What'll it be?" she asked.

"A pint" Gendry said with a devilish smile. "It's free for me, right?" Arya felt a hit of jealousy in the pit of her stomach but didn't show it.

The waitress scoffed. "Dream on, Gen. You're paying double." _Gen?_ She had a fucking nickname for him? Anguy and Beric ordered a pint as well whilst Jeyne opted for a vodka cranberry. The waitress looked expectantly at Arya and she realized it was her turn.

"Uh, I'll have a gin and tonic." The waitress nodded and scribbled it down. She was just about to leave when Anguy whistled her back.

"Bella!" He held up a five dollar bill and offered it to her with the same sly smirk as before. "And you and I will meet up later, yeah?" The waitress, Bella, giggled and gave him and air kiss before walking off.

Arya eyebrows shot up in confusion. What was that? But her expression changed from shocked to amused as Anguy received a smack across the back of his head from Gendry. "Stop treating my sister like a hooker!" Sister? _Oh…_

"Oh come on, Gendry! It's all good fun, right Bells?" He directed the last bit towards the bar where Bella was pouring drinks.

"All good fun" Bella called back with her hand raised. Arya couldn't help but chuckle.

Gendry's friends were great! They reminded her a bit of her friends back home in Winterfell. Their lightheartedness did wonders, she was actually having a good time and didn't think about how she had had a fight with her sister that she wasn't sure if they'd ever get past.

"Beric?" Arya said and he turned his head towards her. She wasn't sure if she should ask or not but she was so curious. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you wearing the- uh-" She was afraid to finish the sentence in case she would upset him. But Beric only smirked.

"The eye patch?" he finished for her and gestured towards it. Arya nodded, embarrassed. "I was in a car accident last year, got one too many glass shards in my eye. I've been cross dressing as a pirate ever since." Arya was relieved he had taken the question well and couldn't help but laugh at the last pun.

When the baseball game was over, the TV was turned off only to be replaced by music, dance music. Like switching on a button, people started to shake what their mama gave them. Beric and Jeyne's eyes immediately lit up. Beric brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"Come on, my lady fair" he said and stood up. "Let's show these people how to bust a move! I don't think we've had the opportunity since prom!" Jeyne giggled and they entered the suddenly available dance floor.

Arya watched them move and they were indeed good. Sansa was always the graceful dancer, taking ballet classes as a young girl. Arya preferred hip hop.

"Do you want to dance?" Gendry murmured. His cheeks were flushed and he looked sheepishly at her. Anguy was snorting into his beer but Arya ignored him.

"Sure" she beamed. Gendry tentatively took her hand and Arya felt the warmth spread from his finger to her own and through her hand. His hand molded perfectly with his. It felt easy, right.

They moved together to the beat of the bass. Arya knew they weren't as good as Beric and Jeyne, but she couldn't care. All she could care about was the feeling of having Gendry close. She held his hands as they altered between dancing close and with their arms stretched and Gendry spun her in different directions.

The song ended and Arya was left standing a lot closer to Gendry than most people would deem acceptable. Their hands were linked and both of them panting. Her eyes flickered to his parted lips. I would be so easy to just reach up and press her lips against his. It would feel wonderful, she was sure of that.

For a moment it looked as if he was _actually_ going to do it, lean down and kiss her. But then he cleared his throat and put some distance between them. Disappointment washed over her.

The rest of the night progressed fine. They danced some more and finished their drinks before Arya felt like it was time to head back at around midnight. Gendry kept her company on the bus back to the hotel.

"I had a really great time tonight" Arya said when they stopped outside the hotel. "I really like your friends."

"Yeah they're cool" Gendry answered. It was quiet for a moment. "I like spending time with you."

His words made her heart speed up. Had he really just said that? "I like spending time with you too." Gendry seemed relieved. He smiled sheepishly at her. "Maybe I can get your number and we can hang out some more?"

He lit up. "Great, yeah, okay!" He pulled out his phone and unlocked it, Arya did the same. They exchanged numbers with goofy smiles plastered on their faces. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely!"

He smiled at her and pulled her in for a hug. She felt his warmth surrounding her as his arms wrapped around her shoulders and her arms snaked around his middle. She couldn't help but breathe in his scent. He smelled like a mix of musk and cologne, pure magic… The last thing she wanted was to let go but she knew she had to.

"Okay, goodnight" Gendry said as he released her.

"Goodnight" Arya whispered.

 **Naw… These two cuties! Leave a review with your thoughts and let me know what you think! I hope to get the next chapter out at the end of this week but we'll see.**

 **You're all wonderful! Until next time! X**


	5. Chapter 5

**So this chapter came out a little later than I had hoped, but do enjoy it because the next one will take at least two weeks, maybe less if I can get access to a computer. I'm going away so we'll see. I hope you'll like this one!**

Chapter 5

These past five days had been the best on this vacation so far, without a doubt. The days following the night out with Gendry and his friends that was. Every day since, they had found an excuse to keep each other company.

Gendry said that 'there wasn't really anyone he sat with during his lunch break so why not' even though Arya knew perfectly well that he had friends working at the hotel. So he had an excuse to eat lunch with her. One day when Gendry had forgotten to bring his lunch box they went to McDonalds instead. Arya hadn't had that fun during a meal in a long time.

And Arya in turn kept finding new excuses to sit by the bar with him and talk about nonsense and help him clean up the tables around the pool, everything from 'I'm bored' to 'I can tell my parents that I've done free labor to help you guys at the hotel which is pretty much the same thing as charity'. Gendry probably didn't buy into any of it but the thought that maybe, just _maybe_ he understood that she wanted to spend time with him because she liked him made her all giddy inside.

She was currently sitting in a restaurant serving Dornish food with her family. Her mom and Sansa had found it on one of their shopping trips with Cersei and Myrcella Baratheon and apparently they had liked it so much they wanted to bring Arya and her dad to eat.

Arya wasn't that in depth with her sister's doings and whereabouts since the argument but she had caught that Sansa spent pretty much every waking minute with either Cersei, their mom or Joffrey. Whenever Sansa spoke about Joffrey it was like she spoke about a saint but Arya wasn't buying it. One look at him had been enough for her to understand what he was, Arya just hoped Sansa would realize that before she made a big mistake.

Catelyn was blabbing away about some fancy dinner they all needed to attend tomorrow but Arya barely listened. She had her stupid dress so therefore she didn't have to care. However she _did_ pick up the buzzing in her pocket which indicated a text message.

It was probably Shireen wondering if she had a good time or Mycah once again wanting a reminder of when she got back. But it wasn't. It was Gendry!

 **G:** _Hey! What're you doing?_

Arya smirked and texted back under the table.

 **A:** _Having lunch at some restaurant mom found the other day…_

His next message came seconds later and Arya made sure to put her phone on silent. Her mom would not be happy to see that Arya used her phone at the table. Probably not her dad either.

 **G:** _Having fun? ;-)_

 **A:** _You try being cooped up with a woman and her daughter clone who can only talk about fancy events and dresses!_

She forced herself to focus on eating some on her food to avoid discovery as she waited for the next message. Gendry had texted her before and she had texted him but it was always to ask if one or the other wanted to meet up and have lunch or something. This was the first time he had texted her spontaneously just to see what she was up to. It made her feel all bubbly inside, she both hated and loved the feeling. Her phone vibrated again.

 **G:** _Haha! Sounds like most girls I my old high school class…_

 **A:** _I pity high school-Gendry… ;-)_

His next reply took a couple of minutes.

 **G:** _Don't! He's a happy boy! His older self has met you, hasn't he?_

Oh my god! Did he just straight up flirt with her? Her stomach was doing summersaults and her fingers trembled in anticipation of writing a flirty response, but before she had the chance, her father called for her attention.

"Huh?" Arya asked dumbly and blinked.

"Your mother asked how you were planning on doing your hair tomorrow at dinner" her dad filled in for her.

"Sorry, my head was elsewhere" Arya apologized and half lied. Her parents looked relatively at peace but Sansa was eyeing her with suspicion. "I'll probably just wear it down or in a pony tail… I don't know, and I don't really care."

"Arya!" her mom scolded.

"I'm sorry, Mom!" Though she really wasn't. "But you told me to always tell the truth, and that's the truth! I don't care how I'll wear my hair to that dinner and I doubt that most people there don't either."

"Well if it is so unimportant to you, then will you at least let me braid it?"

Arya shrugged. She wouldn't admit out loud that sometimes she actually liked when her mom braided her hair because she did a better job at it than she did, but if it was complicated and took a long time then it was just annoying. "Nothing fancy or time consuming!"

"I promise I won't make you suffer my braiding for long." At least there was a teasing tone in her mom's voice.

She went back to the message from Gendry but instead of a flirty response she asked a question.

 **A:** _Do you want to hang out later?_

 **G:** _Sure! I get off at seven, meet me at the bar?_

 **A:** _Okay, see you then!_

XXX

After lunch she spent most of her time at the pool, swimming and working on the tan she didn't really care about. Gendry wasn't in the bar at the pool, she guessed he had work somewhere else. Her parents had gone out for a walk in the sunny weather and Sansa was as always with the Baratheons (or Lannisters, depending on how you look at Cersei and her kids).

Arya looked at the clock on her phone. About half an hour to go… She got up and went up to her room to take a quick shower and changed into something more appropriate than her bikini. The result was a pair of denim shorts and a loose grey t-shirt that hung over her shoulder. Her bra strap was showing but she couldn't care less.

When she got down to the lobby she saw that Sansa had returned. Her sister sat in one of the armchairs with her phone in hand. Arya both wanted to hug her, smack her and run far away from her.

But despite her unsettled mind, Arya slowly made her way forward. Sansa didn't look up. Arya wasn't sure if Sansa didn't know she was there or if her sister ignored her, though she hoped it wasn't the latter.

"Sansa?" Arya said tentatively. The read head looked up with her face neutral until she saw who was calling for her attention. Arya wasn't sure what to say next, and it got even worse when Sansa's face twisted into the same look she had given her younger sister at that stupid benefit. "I-"

However before Arya could stutter anything else, Sansa stood up and stormed towards the elevators and Arya was left standing there with disappointment washing over her. What had she expected? Sansa hadn't made any move for communication between them so why did Arya suddenly think it would be different now? If their parents _did_ have a secret agenda to make their daughters bond, it wasn't going that well, was it?

She closed her eyes and willed the sad and disappointed feeling to sink into the back of her head. In just a few minutes, Gendry would pick her up and Arya didn't want to be sad when she hung out with him.

"Arya?"

Arya knew who it was before she turned around. She would recognize that deep, sexy voice anywhere. Gendry. She turned around to meet him.

"Hi" Arya sighed and tried to force a smile but Gendry must have seen through it since he tilted his head to the side and studied her for a second.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine" Arya immediately answered, but then she realized that it was better to just get it out there and then forget about it for the evening. "It's just still a bit rocky between me and my sister."

"I'm sorry…" And he truly looked like he meant it.

"But I don't want to think about that now" Arya declared. "Where do you want to go?"

Gendry chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture Arya had noticed he did a lot. "Well I- I was thinking we could head over to my place, maybe order takeout if you haven't eaten. There's a great Thai restaurant across from my apartment." He blushed slightly. Arya couldn't understand why but it sure was adorable.

She nodded her agreement. "That sounds great! Where do you live?"

"Steel Street… just outside Flea Bottom…" He looked at her as if he expected her to be grossed out or something by the statement, but Arya merely nodded and he looked relieved.

She didn't have anything against Flea Bottom. She had been there during one of her own little expeditions. They had a great market which she loved visiting. Okay sure, maybe the neighborhood was a little dicey during the night, however Arya knew all the types of self defense she would need and besides, she did have a big bull beside her so she doubted trouble would come.

The bus stopped at Steel Street and they stepped out. Arya could see the restaurant from there and could already tell it was a popular place, it was flowing with costumers.

They ordered rice, Paneng red curry chicken in coconut milk and stir fry and made their way out of the crowded restaurant. Gendry led the way a grey and dull apartment building and they walked the stair up to his door. _G. Waters_ , Arya read.

"So, this is where I live" Gendry announced. "It's not that fancy…"

Arya thought that statement was ridiculous, she thought it was cozy. She'd much rather live in a small but intimate apartment than a huge mansion which she lived in now, it always felt empty to wander the halls at home. "Don't say that. I like it."

As Gendry took out plates fished out a bottle of Pepsi from his fridge, Arya took a look around the apartment. The walls in the hallway and living room were a pale grey color. She tried to learn as much as she could about him from what she could see.

He had a photo of a woman with long blond hair and sparkling blue eyes who held what could only be two-three old Gendry in her arms. That must be his mom. His mom smiled gently at the camera and baby-Gendry sported a toothy grin. Beside the photo placed on a small side table beside the couch, leaning against the frame, was a single CD of Celine Dion's _My Heart Will Go On_.

He also had a couch, a coffee table, a TV, a shelf with DVD's, video games, some books and CD's, and an armchair Arya planned on calling dibs on later. It looked creepily comfy. She wandered on into his bedroom which was also very simple with a bluish-grey tapestry. His bed was the center of the bed with black covers, also a dresser, a desk with a laptop and office chair and shelves nailed to the wall with some more books and photos.

One photo was of Gendry and his group of friends she met with a couple of days ago, all of them sporting their individual derp face. Another photo of him and his mom. In this one he looked to be about ten and his mom had cropped her hair short. A third one looked to have been taken quite recently and was of Gendry with his arm around the shoulders of an older man in his sixties with a balding head lines in his face.

"Ready to eat?" Gendry asked. Arya turned around and saw him leaning against the door frame.

She was, but she really wanted to know about the photos. "Is that your mom?" she asked instead of answering his question.

Gendry walked up to her and carefully put his hand on her back. "Yeah… I was ten when we took that picture. She died a couple of months later. Breast cancer…" _Oh…_ Arya didn't know what to say, she had never lost anyone like that. Especially not anyone that close.

"Gendry I- I'm so sorry…"

Gendry smiled slightly down at her, though it was tainted with sadness and loss. "I am too…" He cleared his throat. "But you said it yourself, no sadness tonight. That's my foster dad Tobho." He pointed at the photo with the older man. "And you know who the others are." He winked at her.

Arya nodded, but then moved on to lighter subjects. "Let's eat!"

"Great! I'm starving!"

Gendry flipped through the channels as Arya loaded her plate with the food they ordered. They settled on some random comedy that had already aired half the runtime, but whatever. It wasn't as if they were going to pay much attention anyway.

As they ate, Gendry told her about a field trip he had been on in elementary school. He had managed to stray from the group and an hour later they had found him playing in a mud puddle in the middle of the rain in a park.

"I have an idea" Arya said when they finished the last bit of their food.

"What's that?" Gendry replied and leaned back against the cushions.

"We ask each other questions and the other person has to answer _truthfully_."

Gendry smirked at her. "Like Twenty Questions?"

Arya scoffed and shrugged. "If you want to put a label on it…"

"Alright…" He shifted a little in the couch. This was great! This was her chance to find out any juicy secret about him that she wanted! "But I'll go first!" Arya nodded her agreement. "First kiss?"

Oh my god! So cliché! But then again, what she really wanted to know was even more cliché. "That would be my last and only boyfriend, Edric" Arya answered without hesitation. There wasn't a reason in hiding it. "Two years ago." Gendry nodded slowly. "My turn. Favorite color?" It was a lame question and she knew it, but by asking him simple questions, she hoped to have him shocked for her own amusement when she asked what she _really_ wanted to know.

"The exact shade of blue on my walls in the bedroom. It's simple enough." Arya should have guessed that. "Do you know what you want to do with your life?"

They kept on asking each other questions, some raunchier than others. For example, Gendry grew some balls on time and asked her about her first sexual fantasy, and a red faced Arya told him about a young man who had worked as her dad's personal assistant/caretaker when her dad had injured his leg and couldn't leave the house. She had been fourteen then and the assistant, whose name was Tommard, had been the only man who had ever awoken something else than 'ew, men stink' within her. He had been the one she thought of with his beautiful green eyes and dark hair when she carefully put her fingers between her legs.

Arya had just told him more about her dog Nymeria when she blurted out the question that had been burning inside of her. "Have you had sex?" She wasn't sure why that was something she desperately wanted to know, but she did.

The blush that tainted his cheeks was enough of an answer for her, but she wanted to see if he would lie about it as probably most guys would. "No…" It was barely a whisper coming out of his lips. Why was he embarrassed? She hadn't either.

"Why not?"

Gendry shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. "I had a girlfriend in high school, the last couple of months before graduation. But I couldn't afford college so I started working whilst she went studying at The Vale. I suppose that's all there is to it…"

Arya tilted her head to the side. "And you never slept with someone just to get rid of your virginity?"

He looked at her with a frown on his face, the blush had reduced. "I don't believe in one night stands, Arya." That must have been the most honorable thing she had ever heard from a guy in his early twenties. Usually the only thing going through their head as far as she knew was: vagina, boobs, ass, food. Theon being one of the main sources for this conclusion.

So therefore, without thinking, without even beginning to consider the consequences, Arya leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. It was quick and with her mouth closed, she pulled away almost as soon as they touched, afraid of his reaction.

But a toothy grin, not unlike the one he sported in his childhood photo, spread across Gendry's face. His eyes seemed to sparkle as he gently cupped her face with his hand and leaned in.

This time when their lips touched, neither of them seemed willing to pull away. Gendry's hand held her in place and Arya's arms were thrown around his neck and shoulder, fingers playing with his hair as their lips moved and molded together, his tongue carefully sweeping over her bottom lip.

The kiss was pure magic, better than anything she had shared with Edric. Gendry made sparks ignite in the belly and her heart speed up as she pressed herself closer to him. Her breathing was labored when they pulled apart, gasping for air and she rested her forehead against his.

"What do we do now?" Arya asked breathlessly and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of Gendry's sturdy and warm body against hers, and the feeling of his breath ticking her.

Gendry chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Enjoy the time we have left?"

Arya smirked. "Sounds good to me…" She did let him say anything else, too busy pressing her lips onto his.

 **So… Less teasing and more action in this one, but there is more to come! Trust me! Patience is a virtue (that I never learned but whatever)! See you soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi, I know it's been like half a year or something and I'm sorry. My creative spirit seems to have left me completely but I'm trying to force the writing out to get it back. Writing is still a big interest of mine and I have a lot of ideas. I just can't seem to write them. I even want to continue on "No Matter What", I just have no idea what I would write…**

 **Anyway, enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter 6

"Gendry, I really have to go" Arya half said, half moaned, not really making an effort to remove herself from Gendry's arms. His lips were trailing down her jaw and neck, stopping to nip at her pulse point.

They had been going at this for at least three hours. She arrived at his apartment around nine on Saturday morning, his day off, and dragged him out of bed. They ate breakfast together, Arya wasn't quite sure how much time passed after the meal but she did remember starting the make out session. "Mhm" he murmured, stroking her waist.

"Gen, mom made me promise I'll be back by one. I have to come with to lunch with the Baratheons."

"You hate having lunch with posh pricks" Gendry whispered, licking at her ear shell, making Arya shudder.

"I do" she admitted breathlessly. "But if I don't go, mom will have my head." Reluctantly she removed herself from Gendry but didn't miss the pout he gave her. She smiled at him.

"Will you be back later?" He looked hopeful.

"Obviously, stupid" Gendry smirked at her as she closed the gap between them to give him one last, scorching kiss. "Later!"

"I miss you already, Milady!" he called after her as she walked into the hallway to put on her thin hoodie.

"You're so weird" Arya snickered. "I'll call you after lunch!"

XXX

The lunch turned out to be tolerable. Robert Baratheon was already past tipsy when they arrived at the Baratheon estate and she got a good laugh out of all his bad drunken jokes even though both her mom and Sansa looked at the red faced man with controlled disgust.

Cersei and Joffrey were definitely the damper of the meal. Arya had to endure Cersei's cast glances and her not so subtle comments about how perfect her golden boy was and how she compared Myrcella's looks to Arya's in a way that was oblivious to anyone except the person the comments were directed at. Namely Arya. But she handled it with grace and did her best to ignore the words coming out of the foul woman's mouth and laughed unnecessarily loud at Robert's jokes just to spite her.

She also had to endure how Joffrey leaned in towards Sansa with a self-assured look on his face that Arya just wanted to wipe off. Joffrey kept filling Sansa's wine glass and Sansa obediently drank. One more drop and she would be in Robert's state, Arya thought angrily. And maybe that was what the little shit wanted!

No! She wasn't about to let that happen! So she bumped her leg against the table with more force than necessary and watched, pleased with herself as Sansa put down the wine glass. Arya could live with the scolding from her parents, Sansa's pissed off glare and Cersei's cold look. The most important thing was that Sansa now stayed away from the wine glass, and she did. Arya didn't know what was going on between Joffrey and Sansa, however she did know that she did not like it.

But other than that, it wasn't one of those dinners that her mom hosted that made her want to gouge her eyes out with her fork. She got a couple of good laughs out of it.

XXX

After lunch, she called Gendry almost immediately. She laughed whilst he furiously apologized to her. Their plan had been to meet up directly after lunch but apparently Bella, his sister, had called him almost in tears, begging him to help her out at the pub she worked at. Some sports event was airing there and she wasn't doing a good job keeping the opposite supporters from killing each other. Arya laughed even louder when Bella suddenly hijacked Gendry's phone and was now apologizing to Arya for interrupting their date.

It was really fine, Arya would have done the same if one of her siblings were in the same position. So whilst Gendry got some quality time with his sibling, Arya though she might as well get some of her own. She dug out her phone from her pocket and scrolled though her contacts until she found Jon on facetime.

"Hey, weirdo!" Arya greeted happily when she saw Jon's mop of hair and his grey eyes.

" _Good afternoon, little sister_ " Jon answered sarcastically. _"How's King's Landing?"_

"Warm and full of posh people…"

" _That bad? You don't have anyone to hang out with?"_ Jon immediately sounded worried and Arya rolled her eyes at him.

"I met a friend at the hotel and he took me to meet some of his friends, so now I have a couple of people to hang out with. They're great!" She deliberately left out the part where this _friend_ had also become a boyfriend of sorts. Was that what he was now? Her boyfriend? She was leaving in three days, so… She didn't know.

" _And what's the name of this friend?"_ Jon asked and narrowed his eyes at her as if he's just read her thoughts.

"Gendry" Arya answered and then changed the subject. "How's Ygritte?"

" _Did I hear my name?"_ a female voice called from Jon's line before the poor guy could answer. A red blurry mess appeared on the screen and muffled sounds as Ygritte stole Jon's phone from him and the camera stilled. "Hello, my little Fire ant!" Ygritte said loudly and Arya chuckled.

"'Fire ant', that's a new one. Where'd you get that from?"

" _Well you're very little and you have fiery attitude_ " Ygritte explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Touché" Arya chuckled.

" _When are you coming up north of the Wall for a visit? I miss you and your talent for pranks!"_ There was something dangerous glowing in Ygritte's eyes and Arya loved it! Last time she was up there, Jon had mysteriously found all his coffee powder had been swapped for sand. He was certainly not happy but Arya and Ygritte had laughed their butts off.

"Soon!" Arya promised. "The summer is still young, we'll see!"

" _Please no more sand-coffee"_ came Jon's gruff voice from a distance. _"I don't think I can take another morning decaffeinated!"_

Ygritte snorted on the other line and turned her head to face her boyfriend so that all Arya could see was her mess of red hair. _"It was_ one _morning, Snow! And we bought you new coffee later didn't we?"_

"We even got you one of those cappuccino-mocha-whatever bullshit coffees" Arya chimed in. "That was more than generous!"

" _Your sister speaks wise words, baby"_ Ygritte told Jon and Arya smiled, half sarcastically, half proud. " _Arya, baby, I'm sorry but we have to go now"_ Ygritte added in Arya direction after taking a quick look at her watch. " _We're babysitting Little Sam this afternoon!"_

"Jon is babysitting?" Arya asked and couldn't help but laugh. The idea of Jon handling a toddler was just ridiculous.

" _Don't laugh! Jon can actually be quite the babysitter when he wants to and Little Sam loves my piggy back rides!"_

"Alright, alright! I believe you! Call soon, okay?"

" _You betcha, darling! Jongritte out!"_

"Bye, weirdos!"

After her facetime call with Jon and Ygritte, she slouched on the couch for a little while, masturbated for about half an hour because she was bored, then took a shower and repeated the process until Gendry called her around five and declared that he had _finally_ gotten home and was waiting for her to be ready as well. Arya literally jumped off the couch, put on some decent clothing and jumped on the earliest bus, grabbing a _Subway_ sandwich on the way.

As the bus finally stopped, well… She didn't want to use the word 'skipping', and still she couldn't find a word to describe it better. So whatever! She _skipped_ down the steps of the bus and walked the streets up to Gendry's apartment.

Her entire demeanor had changed since she met him. She wasn't as angry anymore, Gendry made her feel something else than general resentment towards her family and the world. The world was an unfair and sexist pile of junk, her mother clearly favored her older sister and ignored her, most of her siblings didn't understand her… But Gendry made her forget about that, he made her embrace her life instead. The feeling was addictive.

Arya guessed Gendry must have seen her from his window because he already stood in his doorway when she climbed up the stairs to his apartment door. "Hey, gorgeous" he greeted and gave her a peck before letting her in.

"How was the bar?" Arya asked as she took of her hoodie.

"Like Beric, Anguy and Hot Pie times a couple of thousands…"

"Sounds like a good time." The sarcasm dripped from her mouth like drool.

"Okay, smartass" Gendry said and wrapped his arms around her. "Are you hungry?"

Arya kissed him in answer. "Not really, I ate on the way. Wanna watch a movie?"

Gendry nodded and kissed her forehead. "I'll get the popcorn, you check the shelf.

He had a lot of older movies in his shelf, which Arya liked. She didn't really get a chance to watch older films unless she did it by her own on a lonely night. During family movie night they would always watch something new and relatively non-scary because Rickon was thirteen, picky and not as tough as he pretended with movies.

Gendry had just entered the living room with a bowl of popcorn and a salt shaker when Arya happily held up _Speed_ (the one from 1994) for Gendry to put on. He nodded, smiling and put it on whilst Arya made it cozy in couch by spreading out blankets.

She kissed his temple before leaning into his chest and placing the bowl of popcorn between them. After about twenty minutes she only halfheartedly paid any attention as she appeared to have found a fascination form trailing her finger along Gendry's arm. Her finger slowly ran along a vein on his under arm.

His fingers had begun to stroke her hair. He didn't really pay attention either. Soon Gendry paused the movie and pulled her face to his. Gentle pecks turned into kisses and kisses turned into a full blown make out session. Arya traced her hand up and down Gendry's back as he kissed her along her collarbone.

"I don't want you to leave" Gendry whispered and by the tone in his voice Arya knew he was referring to her travelling back to Winterfell and not her getting back to the hotel later.

She closed her eyes. Gendry knew she felt the same and they didn't really talk about it, even though she was supposed to leave in three days. "I know…" she whispered back. She ran her fingers through his hair as he leaned his forehead against her collarbone. "I feel the same… But can we just enjoy now?" Gendry nodded and kept kissing her.

 **So there it was… Why did you think? Let me know!**

 **I'm thinking about trying to write a drabble/one shot series to get my spirit back. I have a couple of ideas, both canon and modern. If you have any ideas on drabbles or one shots let me know! I think it will be easier for me to write if I know it's something you would want to read.**

 **Until next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay! This chapter came out a lot faster than the last one! I hope you like it!**

Chapter 7

One night left. One night. It felt like something was wringing her heart like a wash cloth as Arya slowly folded one item of clothing after the other and put it inside her suitcase. She never _ever_ thought she would feel this way, she didn't even like King's Landing. And that was true. Arya didn't like _King's Landing._ In fact, she hated the stupid city and all its posh people. But she _really_ liked Gendry and she hated the idea of leaving him.

Of course it was still in the same country but Arya had seen what a long distance relationship did to Jon and Ygritte. It almost broke them up until Jon finally decided to move north of the Wall with her. Arya wasn't sure she wanted to slowly kill whatever it was she shared with Gendry by living so far apart.

She had already been accepted to the University of Winterfell so she would be staying at home. Unless…

There was a knock on her door, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Sweet girl?" Arya could hear her father's voice through the wood.

"What's up?" Arya asked as she opened the door.

"How's the packing going?" he asked.

"Fine" Arya lied. She had purposely packed everything as slow as she could despite her mother's wishes that they all pack efficiently and fast so they didn't have to think about it in the morning. "Yeah, I'm almost done."

"Okay good." Ned nodded and checked the time on his watch. "Your mother would want us to have lunch and then you have the rest of the day free."

"Great! Hey, can I hang out with Gendry tonight?"

Her father quirked an eyebrow and eyed her with a suspicious look. "You've been hanging around a lot with him."

Arya felt herself blush. "Well, yeah- We're friends…"

Ned looked at her for a second. "Just friends?" His eyes flickered to her neck. "I saw a hickey on your neck the other day." His voice wasn't angry, but it was a bit hard if not concerned.

 _Fuck!_ She was going to kill Gendry! Her face probably looked like a tomato right now. How had she not noticed that? She had been so careful to check any part of her body, collarbones and up, if there were any hickies there after she spent time with him. Apparently she missed one. "Okay- Okay… Maybe we're more than _just friends_ but I just- I don't know..!" Arya was quiet as she did everything she could to avoid her father's look. "Are you mad at me?"

Her father sighed and seemed to think about his answer before saying anything. "I'm not mad at you, sweet girl. A bit concerned, yes. A little bit upset that you didn't say anything until I forced the answer out of you, yes. But I'm not mad at you. Arya, I trust you to make good decisions."

"So can I see him tonight?"

Ned cleared his throat. "Yes. But I want you to be back here by midnight, we're leaving early tomorrow." Arya nodded happily. "So you finish packing and meet us down for lunch in fifteen minutes, okay?"

"Will do!" She smiled and made a gesture to close the door.

"Just one more thing" her father said quickly. "Use protection, please."

Arya couldn't do anything but gape for a moment. Had her father really just said that? She had never even heard her parents mention anything related to sex since she got _the talk_. "Oh my god, dad!" Color rose in her cheeks again. "We're not even- God! Good talk, dad, okay? I'm going to close the door now." And she did.

XXX

Gendry picked up on the second ring.

" _Hello, M'Lady"_ his rough voice sounded through the speaker. "You on your way?"

"Yeah, I'm stepping onto the bus now – and don't call me that!

" _As M'Lady commands."_

"Seriously stop that!" But she wasn't really serious. Deep down she actually liked the nickname that also annoyed the crap out of her.

" _Yeah, yeah alright. I'll meet you at the bus stop."_

"Can't wait!"

She felt her heart twinge as they hung up. As much as she tried to focus on their last day of maybe being together being a good day and a good experience, Arya couldn't help but feel sad. How come the one time she found someone she could see herself with and more importantly cared about her for who she was, he lived on the other side of the country?

And where did all the teenage angst come from? Okay maybe not _teenage_ angst because she was technically an adult and had graduated high school but angst in general. Sansa was the one who dabbled with angst and boys. Speaking of Sansa… Arya was just happy Sansa would be far away from Joffrey when she returned to Highgarden for college.

Gendry stood leaning against a lamppost as she stepped off the bus. His face lit up when he saw her but Arya could tell there was something sad behind it. She didn't blame him. She felt the same.

"Hey…" he said and enveloped her in his arms. "How are you?"

"I don't know" Arya answered slowly. Gods he smelled so good! Did she have to be reminded of all this now?

"What do you want to do?" he asked her as they walked the short distance to his apartment building. "Have you eaten?" She nodded. "Great, so…" He quieted after that. It was hard to be lighthearted for the both of them.

It was reasonably quiet when they stepped inside and sat down on the couch. Honestly this shouldn't be this big of a problem. Were they even together? They hadn't even had sex… Speaking of which, did she want to? Yes. Yes she did, ever since she first saw him. But now she wanted it because she wanted him for the person he was and not just because he was hot, though that helped.

She could feel Gendry press a kiss to her temple, on her cheek and slowly along her jaw line. A sigh escaped her as his lips closed in on her neck and she tilted her head to allow him better access. Gendry's hand grasped at her hip, holding her firmly. Arya in turn let her hands grasp the hair at the nape of his neck and yanked his face to hers to kiss him hard. She couldn't help it. The urge was too strong.

Arya wasn't sure they should be doing this. Tomorrow she was leaving and who knew when they would see each other again? But maybe that was the reason to go on with it? If they didn't end up seeing each other again would she find someone better to lose her virginity to? Probably not…

So she pulled Gendry with her when she lay down on the couch, him landing on top of her. Her mouth left his to kiss up and down his neck, the stubble rubbing her lips.

"Arya?" Gendry mumbled. At first she thought he was just calling out name due to feeling of her hitting his pulse point with her tongue, he had done it before. Then she noticed his hands trembling. "Arya?"

"What's wrong?" she asked, stopping her actions to look him in the eyes.

"S-should we be doing this? I mean- You're leaving tomorrow. Maybe this isn't a good idea…"

Arya couldn't read his expression and immediately became afraid he would blow her off. If he did, she wasn't sure what to think of him anymore. "Don't you want me?"

Gendry scoffed lightly but his face softened. "Of course I do!" he said. "If I didn't I wouldn't have let it get this far. I'm not an asshole. What I meant was I don't want you to regret anything."

Arya let out a breath of relief. He wanted her and she wanted him. She wouldn't regret anything and she didn't think he would either. "I won't regret anything, I promise. Gendry. I want this. I want you."

He responded by kissing her passionately. It was different than any kiss before this one. More real, more present. It was only them, only her and Gendry and nothing was going to stop them from doing what they both wanted.

Arya couldn't help but yelp and he lifted her up from the couch, holding her steadily by her thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist and kept on kissing him as Gendry carried her to his bedroom. He kicked the door open and used the same method to close it again.

Slowly, he put her down on the bed, both of them sitting up. Gendry gave her one last look of question. To respond to that Arya took his hand in hers and guided it to her breast. Gendry tried to hold back his gasp. A spark of arousal shot through her as his thumb carefully stroked her from the outside of her shirt.

She pulled off her shirt before he could do anything else. Feeling him with her clothes on wasn't enough anymore. She wanted to feel him flesh against flesh. Gendry stared at her bra. It wasn't her best, just a plain black one but Gendry looked at it like it was the best thing he'd ever seen.

"Your turn" Arya said as confidently as she could despite the fact that her heart was beating hard in her chest and a pink blush spread across her face and chest. If it was from embarrassment or arousal, she didn't know, and nor did she care.

Gendry laughed nervously and slowly pulled his t-shirt over his head. Once again, she could ogle his abs. But this was also different. She hadn't felt them before and the sensation of exploring his chest and stomach was so much better than just looking. It was almost a bit overwhelming the way it made her quiver with delight and seeing Gendry closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling of her hand only made it better.

As she explored his upper body, his hands had traveled back to her hips and slowly rose up to her bra. "Can I?" he asked quietly. Arya loved that he wouldn't do anything without permission. She knew he would never hurt her in any way. She nodded and Gendry did his best to unclip her bra but failed. Arya couldn't help but laugh and was relieved to hear that he laughed with her, though more mortified than her.

When he finally got it off her it was like time stopped for a moment between them. Then he kissed her, letting his tongue slip between her lips. Gently he leaned her down so she was lying on the bed with him on top of her. His lips moved down to the junction between her neck and shoulder, over and along her collarbone until he got to her breast.

Arya gasped when his tongue caressed the flesh. She could feel him move his mouth closer and closer to her nipple and she could feel his stiff member through his jeans. It sent even more sparks down to her center, making her clit throb. When his tongue closed in on her nipple and sucked on it, Arya moaned louder than she had expected herself to and arched her back with delight.

His mouth left her nipple and she felt disappointed for a split second before he mimicked his actions on her other nipple and let his thumb and forefinger roll the first one between his fingers. Arya wrapped her arms around his head, keeping him in place as he teased her. Out of pure instinct she started rubbing her arousal against his through the fabric of their clothing, relishing in the groan Gendry let out.

"Are you sure you haven't done this before?" Gendry asked, his voice breathy and lifted his head to look her in the eyes. His lips were all red and swollen and color flushed his cheeks. He looked beautiful.

"Pretty sure" Arya joked back. Her hand traveled down his upper body and stopped at his hips, playing with the waistband of his jeans. "Is it okay if I-"

She didn't even get a chance to finish her question before Gendry nodded and started unbuttoning his jeans, Arya helping the best she could. Before she knew it, his pants were off and she could clearly see the bulge in his boxers. Her breathing became more labored just by looking at it, that thing was going to be inside her, she was sure it was huge and she hadn't even seen it yet.

Together they removed her jeans as well so they were both just in their underwear. Taking a deep breath Arya pushed her hips upwards and removed her panties. She didn't let herself feel self-conscious, not yet, and just moved right on to remove his underwear as well. He was big. Big, hard and long. She had seen a penis before but never in real life and it was way better this way.

"You okay?" Gendry asked. She nodded but didn't look up, Gendry answered her unspoken question. "You can touch it…"

Arya wasn't sure what to do. She had never gotten this far with anyone. Before she had just let instinct take over but now she was too aware of what was happening. Trying her best to please him she tentatively wrapped her fingers around his member. The skin was so warm and soft, like silk but when she moved her hand up and down it also felt sturdy and hard. The feeling was weird but at the same time powerful when Gendry groaned and his eyed rolled back into his head.

Far too soon Gendry removed her hand from his member but gently moved his fingers to her inner thigh. Arya willingly spread her legs for him, she wasn't embarrassed about _him_ touching _her._ She wanted him to.

"I- I don't know what to do" Gendry stammered. "You have to tell me what feels good."

So she took Gendry's hand in her own and put it over her center, connecting the tips of his fingers with her clit, moving his hand up and down in the same rhythm she used on herself. Gendry soon caught on and she didn't have to help him, so she leaned back and enjoyed the feeling. His fingers moved up and down and the throbbing in her womanhood finally dulled and was replaced with a delicious ache of wanting more.

His fingers strayed from the rhythm and started exploring her labia moving his fingers along her soaked outer lips and then down to her opening, stroking her. Slowly, constantly watching her face for any discomfort he let one of his fingers enter her. Arya let out a loud moan. His fingers were bigger than hers, filling her up more than her own finger could. She could feel him stretch her, preparing her for what was to come. But the stretching felt almost too good, she knew that all it would take for her to come was her putting her fingers against her clit.

Knowing that she most likely wouldn't come later when he was inside her, the pain would probably overpower the pleasure, Arya let her hand glide down her body to the junction of her thighs. Monitoring for Gendry to keep going she started stroking her clit with two fingers. Her breathing instantly became more labored and she could feel that wonderful something build up within her.

Gendry must have felt how her walls started to contract because his fingers doubled their pace, and so did her own fingers until she felt the first wave of pleasure wash over her. Arya couldn't contain her voice or her body, moaning and writhing on his bed. Gendry didn't stop until she went limp, closing her eyes and trying to steady her breath.

"Fucking hell" Arya breathed. "That was so much better than when I do it myself."

Gendry leaned over and kissed her. It was a slow tentative kiss, with him caressing the side of her face that was now shiny with sweat. "We don't have to continue."

"But I want to!" Arya tried to wiggle him into the right position to prove her point. She had to feel him inside her. After this she couldn't imagine not to. Arya wanted to lose her virginity to him, right here, right now.

Nodding his head, he moved to grab a condom from his bedside table. For a guy who hadn't done this before, he sure was well prepared. But Arya wasn't about to complain, she wouldn't have done this if he wasn't this prepared. Buying condoms hadn't even crossed her mind. Yes she was a bit stupid sometimes…

Gendry moved himself in the position Arya wanted him. "Tell me to stop if this hurts too badly." Arya could feel Gendry position his member at her entrance. His breathing was as labored as hers was. Her sexual excitement hadn't dulled after her orgasm, she could still feel a slight throbbing in her centre and the need for him. But now she was nervous as well.

 _Fuck!_

Gendry had started to enter her, indeed very slowly but extremely prominent and Arya was ripped out of her thoughts as her body tried to adjust to the intrusion. It didn't hurt as bad as she had expected, however it did sting and the feeling of him filling her up to the fullest was strange, but not unpleasant.

Arya heard Gendry groan above her and then he buried his face in her neck. This probably felt a lot better for him than it did for her. He pulled out and pushed back in again. This time it hurt. Her loins were forced to stretch again before they were ready and Arya yelped in pain.

"Shit!" Gendry cursed and lifted his head, a look of regret etched across his face. "Sorry! Do you want me to stop?"

She shook her head furiously. "No! Just… Stay still for a second, let me adjust."

Gendry nodded and kissed her on the nose and then lightly on the lips. "I won't move until you tell me to."

It did feel better when Gendry started kissing down her neck. His tongue licked at her pulse point, sending small shocks of pleasure down her body. Her body accommodated to him on its own terms and in its own time, but in time she felt the want for him to move.

"Gendry, can you move? Just go slow."

And he did. In a slow pace he pushed out and then back in. The pain had dulled and she could now feel the pleasure behind it. She sighed just as Gendry grunted loudly. His arms shook violently. If it was because he had trouble supporting his weight or it was arousal, Arya didn't know but she gently let her hands slide up his shaking arms to soothe him before she wrapped her own arms around his neck.

Gendry leaned down and kissed her before starting to move faster. Arya's own moan surprised her. She hadn't expected it to feel so good this time. Her hand started to travel up and down his broad back, feeling the dips and rises of his insane back muscles. They moved together and Arya felt it getting better and better, Gendry's groans became louder and his breath became harder.

Arya guessed it would end soon. She knew that it didn't last long the first time, or probably the second or third time. But that was okay. She didn't really care that she wasn't going to cum right now, she came before anyway and this felt a lot better than she had expected.

Said and done, Gendry murmured something about to cum and trying to stop himself. But Arya told him not to, she wanted to see and feel him cum even though she probably wouldn't be able to feel it through the condom. However she could feel it through the rest of his body.

Gendry's whole body shuddered and he let out the loudest groan so far as his face contracted into this weird confused looking face that probably shouldn't turn her on as much as it did. Then he collapsed on top of her for a second before forcing himself into a sitting position to roll off the condom and toss it away.

Arya pulled him down in the bed again and rolled over so half her body was on top of his. "That was amazing" she told him after kissing him with passion.

"But you didn't cum" Gendry retorted quietly and raked his fingers along her naked side. Arya chuckled and kissed his collarbone.

"Yes I did. Before you actually put it in, and that was the best orgasm I've ever had so…" She captured his fingers with her own, entwining them. "Totally makes up for it!"

Gendry smiled at her and they felt silent for a while. Arya rested her head against his shoulder and he had his arms around her. She knew he didn't sleep because his thumb caressed the same spot on her arm over and over again.

Something had been nagging her and she wanted to, like _really,_ wanted to talk to him about it. But at the same time she didn't because she didn't want to break the peace between them. This wonderful feeling of resting in his arms, all naked and comfortable. It might be the last time they got to share this kind of moment for a long time. It might actually be the _last_ time they got to share this. Unless she spoke right now.

"Gendry?" she whispered.

"Hm? Yes?" Gendry whispered softly back.

"What are we now?" She was quiet for a moment, thinking of how to phrase this. "Like are we an official couple, boyfriend and girlfriend? Or is this going to end tomorrow?"

Gendry's eyes darkened, but not from arousal. "Do you want this to end?"

"What? No! Of course not" Arya said quickly. "That's why I'm asking. I don't want this to end! I want to know how you feel!"

"I want to call you every night when you go back to Winterfell. I want to share a bed with you just like we are now. And I want to tell anyone who asks that I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world."

No one had ever said anything like that to her before. Ever. Never before had she had someone put their feelings on the table for her and plainly told her how they wanted to be with her. "I want that too…"

Arya yelped when Gendry swiftly rolled on top of her, pressing his mouth against hers with a grin he couldn't quite contain. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him against her, refusing to let go.

"Wait!" she suddenly said, remembering something. "It might not have to be a long distance relationship!" Gendry raised an eyebrow. "Well, I _was_ accepted to the University of Winterfell but if I ask my dad to pull a few strings, maybe they can transfer my place to King's Landing?"

"But I thought you hated the idea of living here?"

"I do" she admitted. "But I like the idea of being with you more than I hate this city."

Gendry laughed and kissed her quickly. "I would love that!"

After this sweet exchange they talked about everything and nothing until Arya realized she had to catch the last bus home if she wanted to be back at the hotel before her curfew. Gendry complained loudly but jokingly and Arya couldn't help but laugh at his pouty face. He promised to see her off at the hotel in the morning.

Arya stared out the window with a tired look on her face as she sat on the bus. Most people who took a look at her would probably think she was sad or depressed, but it was quite the opposite. She hadn't felt this happy in forever. Gendry was her boyfriend, actual boyfriend. She had someone who actually cared about her and wanted to be with her. When she was dating Edric she only felt trapped within the relationship. With him she only started dating him because she felt pressured to get some sort of experience. Gendry made her feel loved and free at the same time. She felt happy.

It was 23:47 when she made it inside her hotel room. If her dad asked, she had gotten home before her curfew. No matter how much she wanted to lie in bed, staying up and think about Gendry's perfect hands and how they had been all over her body, she couldn't. Her mom would kill her if she stayed up later than this. After all they needed an early start tomorrow. Though maybe it was a good idea to stay up as long as she managed to get up in the morning. So she could sleep on the plane. That way she could avoid the same incident of someone being motion sick behind her. At least avoiding being conscious about it.

No. She shook the temptations from her head and walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Her loins were already starting to sore from earlier, but she rejoiced in the feeling. It was a good kind of sore, it reminded her of a few hours ago.

The song _Do I wanna know_ by Arctic Monkeys played from her phone as she cleaned her teeth, peed and changed. She had just finished combing her hair when someone knocked on her door. If it was her father coming to chastise her for being late she already had her answer at the ready. She wasn't late!

But it wasn't her father Arya when she opened her door. There, with tears streaming down her face, her eyes swollen, her body whole body shaking and with a red mark blooming across her cheek, stood Sansa.

 **Cliffhanger! I'm shit at writing smut but I'm trying! Let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is welcome, let's all be nice to each other okay? If you think I can improve (I certainly think so) tell me, but be nice! No hate is welcome!**

 **Until next time! Remember, there's only one chapter left! XXX**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay so here we go! Here is the last chapter! After this I'm mainly going to focus on one thing in my life, which are finals. They have already started so I'm doing my best to balance my life. Amongst fanfiction, I'm going to start on my one shot series. That one won't be updated regularly, I'll write when I can but feel free to submit ideas! I'd love some thoughts and ideas from the one's that actually read what I write!**

 **Enjoy the last chapter!**

Chapter 8

"Oh my god, Sansa, what happened?!" Arya asked and ushered her crying sister inside. "Here, sit down." She navigated Sansa to the couch and walked inside the bathroom to snatch a wash cloth and wetting it with cold water. Sansa hissed and winced when Arya pressed the cold cloth against her blooming red mark. "That should help with the bruising." Arya didn't know where this gentleness came from, Sansa certainly hadn't ever shown any to her. But that didn't matter now. In the end of the day they were sisters and sisters should always be there for each other. "What happened, Sansa?"

Her older sister broke down in a new fit of sobs and Arya was surprised to see her leaned in for an embrace, but she gave Sansa the hug she so desperately needed. Fear started to overwhelm her when Sansa didn't speak, only kept on crying. What could possibly have happened to put her in this state?

Arya caressed the top of Sansa's head and kept the wash cloth snugly pressed against her cheek, hoping that the cold could stop any further bruising. If it was a person who did this, Arya swore to every god that did and didn't exist she would kill that person. "Sansa you're scaring me. Please just tell me what's wrong!"

Sansa raised her red and swollen face from Arya's shoulder. Arya could see the desperation and despair in her sister's eyes. "He hit me when I wouldn't have sex with him…" Sansa whispered so quietly Arya could barely intercept it.

"Who?" Arya asked hotly as soon as her brain had processed what had come out of Sansa's mouth. But she already knew the answer, at least she thought she knew.

"Joffrey…" Then it was as if Sansa snapped because fresh tears streamed from her face and she started talking hysterically. "I was at his place earlier, just to say goodbye! We were talking and he was so nice to me! Then I wanted to leave but he wouldn't let me! He kept asking me if I had ever been with a _real_ man. I tried to explain that I didn't think we were right for each other! I swear Arya I tried!"

The redhead stood up and started frantically walk around the room and Arya couldn't do anything but try to remain calm and hoping it would rub off on her frantic sister. "It's okay, Sansa. What's happened next?"

Sansa turned towards her and Arya could read every emotion in her sister's eyes. Sadness, desperation, anger, fear. "You were right about everything, Arya! He's a monster! I could feel myself losing who I am with him, and when I tried to explain that whatever it was we had was going to end he became so horrible. He cornered me and told me he wouldn't let me go until I went all the way." Sansa stopped to take a deep breath before continuing. "I tried to push him out of the way but he wouldn't budge! Then he started to touch me and I screamed for help but no one heard me! I screamed at him again to let me go and that I would never be with him…then he hit me…" She was quiet after that.

"And then?" Arya urged. She needed to know how this all ended. She was going to kill Joffrey. Even if it took all she had, he was going to pay for this. _Winter is coming, Joffrey. You'll see._

"I barely remember… I was so shocked, I mean he had said horrible things but I never thought he would do that. Though I should have known. I'm so stupid. But then Sandor Clegane, you know, his bodyguard, came into the room. Joffrey was startled enough to loosen his grip so I wrenched free and ran. I just ran. And I didn't stop until I came here."

Arya urged her sister to sit down. Then she pulled her sister in for a hug and tried to not cry herself. How could someone do that to her sister? "It's alright now… You're safe. I won't let him touch you again."

"I'm so stupid" Sansa cried. "I should have known all along. You saw it immediately, why couldn't I? I'm sorry for dumping all this on you, I just didn't know who to go to." Arya didn't say anything as Sansa cried. "And I'm sorry for being such a horrible sister to you! I'm such a bad sister, I never really understood you but instead of trying I pushed you away. I'm so, so sorry!"

When hearing her words, Arya couldn't hold back her own tears. This was everything she ever wanted to hear from her sister. Deep down all she ever wanted from her family was to be accepted and loved. Though they weren't all to blame. "Well I haven't been the best sister either…" she said, because it was true.

"Can we start over?" Sansa's cracked voice pleaded. "And I didn't mean all the horrible things I said at the benefit. It was the first time Joffrey was- well you know- starting to show his _other_ side, and I was just confused by it. It's not an excuse, I know, but I just-"

"Sansa, _stop rambling_ " Arya almost laughed. "From now on we start over, okay?"

"Okay." Sansa kissed her cheek and pulled Arya in for a hug for, well it was actually the first time ever.

Arya was struck the irony of their situations. All her life, Sansa had been the one with boys fanning over her and Arya had been in the shadow, never noticed by anyone of the opposite sex. Sansa had always been the one with a boyfriend, Arya was the one who could never find a guy to be anything other than a friend. Now Arya was the one with a boyfriend, and for the first time that she could remember, Sansa had been the one treated wrongly. The younger sister had a habit of calling it unfair. However this wasn't the answer. This wasn't fair. No one deserved what Sansa went through.

"I lost my virginity tonight" Arya said without thinking. Sansa immediately looked up, her face filled with confusion and shock.

"What?" she gasped. "To whom? I didn't even know you'd met anyone."

"His name's Gendry. He works at the bar here."

"Which one is it?" Sansa demanded.

"Black hair, blue eyes, _tall_ , muscles, looks a bit like an _Abercrombie and Fitch_ model." Arya was well aware of how she made it sound like it wasn't a big deal even though it was. She just hadn't done anything like this.

"Wait! The black haired one with the humungous arms and who usually has the early shift?"

"Yeah, him." Arya was a little bit taken aback by Sansa's expression.

"Kudos, Arya, kudos!" Was that a compliment? "You have decent taste!" _Decent?_ Gendry was fucking gorgeous! "So you two are like a thing now?"

"If by that you mean do I have a boyfriend, then yes, yes I do."

Sansa screeched, like literally a high pitched bird like screech. "Oh my god, Arya! You have a boyfriend! Do mom and dad know?"

"Dad does, I don't know if he's told mom yet. Wait! _You_ approve of me dating someone who isn't an all high and mighty socialite?"

Her older sister scoffed and looked at Arya with her head tilted. "This isn't the middle ages, Arya. You can date whoever you want. But if he breaks your heart I'll cut his balls off and feed them to Nymeria or Shaggydog."

Arya couldn't help but laugh. The image of Sansa going after someone who hurt Arya was a bit ridiculous. "Trust me, if Gendry ever hurts me, _I'll_ be the one feeding his balls to Nymeria."

After that they talked, just talked. About everything. And it struck Arya that they had never really done that before, just sit down and talk like two mature adults. Sansa told her about her time at High Garden College and Arya talked about everything she had done with Gendry and also showed Sansa a glass trinket she had bought when she and Gendry had aimlessly strolled around one of the local markets.

It turned out that Sansa didn't want to tell their father about what had happened with Joffrey, which Arya found stupid and wrong and she wasn't afraid to say so. That little prick needed to pay the consequences of what he had done! But Sansa said that Cersei wouldn't let anything that sounded like any form of criticism of her golden boy cross her threshold. In Cersei's eyes, Joffrey could do no wrong.

Sansa went back to her room after about an hour and Arya went straight to bed. She was exhausted. Both after her time with Gendry but also after this emotional rollercoaster with Sansa. A part of her couldn't believe it actually happened. Arya was sure she would wake up in the morning and Sansa would still be cold and distant.

XXX

Arya didn't even bother groaning when phone sounded the alarm at 05:30. She was already awake. A text from Gendry chimed from her phone as soon as she had turned off the alarm.

 _My shift starts at 07:00, I'll be there at 06:30. I'm going to miss you…_

Arya smile was tainted with sadness, yet she couldn't be fully sad. If her dad could reach the proper contacts and get her transferred in time for the start of her freshman year she would see Gendry again before the end of summer. Either way she would probably catch a flight and go see him anyways. She wasn't going to let the long distance get in the way of them being together.

Soon enough she forced herself out of the comforts of the bed to use the toilet. After that she changed into the clothes set out the evening before and braided her hair so it would be comfortably out of the way for the flight.

Her parents and Sansa were waiting for her in the lobby with all of their suitcases at the ready. Arya gave her keycard to the receptionist and they all went into the dining room for their last meal at the hotel. Because she wasn't a breakfast person she only ate a piece of toast, despite her mother's urging for her to eat a more wholesome breakfast.

"Arya?" Sansa said and buffed her arms with her elbow.

"What?" Her older sister nodded her head towards the entrance of the dining hall. Arya turned around in her chair and saw Gendry standing there, not looking at them, except he _really_ looked at them. Color flushed her cheeks slightly. "Excuse me" she announced to her family.

"Arya" her father said before Arya could get up.

"Yes?" Gods! What was he going to say?

"Bring the young man over. I want to meet him. Gendry was it, yes?"

Arya couldn't do anything but nod. Suddenly she was extremely nervous. She knew her dad and Sansa would be at least civil, but her mom was a whole different story. Catelyn Stark hadn't approved of anything in Arya's life, so why would she approve now?

Gendry stood up straighter when Arya closed in. "Hey" he said quietly and gave her a hug and an extremely modest kiss on the cheek, probably knowing her parents were watching. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good" Arya answered. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Dad wants to meet you." Gendry nodded and swallowed. She told him how Ned caught her right before going back to the hotel, leaving Gendry in a quite shocked state. He was nervous now, she could tell so she gave his hand another reassuring squeeze. "It's alright. He won't bite your head off."

The two walked back to the table where Arya's family sat. Sansa actually smiled, and it was more genuine than Arya had seen in a long time. Her father smiled as well, however it was more reserved. Catelyn looked a bit like she wasn't sure what to think.

"Mom, dad, Sansa, this is Gendry, my boyfriend" Arya said, addressing them all.

"Nice to meet you, young man" her dad said and extended his hand for Gendry to shake, and he immediately accepted it.

"You too, sir" Gendry said and shook Ned's hand. He then turned towards Catelyn who looked slightly relieved at this formality shook Gendry's hand as well. "Mrs Stark."

"I'm Sansa, Arya's sister" Sansa said and greeted Gendry.

"Gendry." Arya's older sister eyed him with sly curiosity.

"Would you like to sit down?" Ned asked and gestured towards the empty chair next to Arya's.

"Oh, thank you, that's very kind but my shift starts in fifteen minutes" Gendry excused himself. Arya could see how nervous he was and probably scared of saying the wrong thing. However, at the same time she almost enjoyed making him squirm in front of her parents.

"Which is fifteen minutes _away_! Here!" Arya insisted and basically forced him to sit down. She sat down next to him, smiling.

"So, how long has this been going on?" Catelyn asked, saying something for the first time since Gendry entered. She didn't sound disapproving, though the tone wasn't approving either.

"Well…" Arya started, counting the days quickly in her head. "What has it been? Like a week?"

Gendry nodded. "About a week."

Arya carefully eyed her mom. Catelyn looked a bit shocked that Arya hadn't said anything despite the fact that it had been going for that time. Though she probably wouldn't have told her mom until the relationship was steady and somewhat serious. That way Gendry wouldn't run when Catelyn tried to scare him away.

"And your intentions?" Catelyn asked.

"Intentions?" Arya immediately questioned. They had been dating for a week and her mom was already asking about _intentions_?

"Yes, Arya." Her mother sounded like she was explaining something that Arya was incapable of understanding. "Intentions."

Arya had to suppress a scoff. "Our _intentions_ are to spend time together and date like a normal couple." Gendry sent a small smile her way and she could tell he wanted to take her hand but didn't because they were in front of her parents.

"Despite the fact that you'll be commuting?"

Now Arya was getting irritated. "Okay but newsflash, mom, you and dad were a commuting couple, Jon and Ygritte were a commuting couple. I think we'll be fine."

Catelyn opened her mouth to respond, however, before she could Ned placed his hand on top of hers which silenced her. "We're both happy for you, Arya. However you can't blame your mother for being worried. It's a bit scary for us as parents to think that your first serious relationship is going to be a long distance one."

"Well you needn't be worried" Gendry spoke up, loud and clear. It almost surprised Arya. He hadn't said much during this 'meeting'. Now, however, he spoke as if he had been speaking the whole time. "If your worries are that I'm going to use the long distance to my advantage to blackmail Arya into doing things she doesn't want to just because we won't see each other every day or use the distance to cheat, you won't have to worry about that. I grew up with a single parent and never knew my father because he cheated on my mother and then left her for nothing. Not even when she died of breast cancer did he step up and take some responsibility for his ten year-old child. I hope you don't think this has made me the sort of person who is okay with that kind of behavior."

Ned looked down for a moment. "I'm sorry for your loss, Gendry" he said, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Thank you" Gendry said, looking relieved with Arya's father's obvious change of stance.

Arya watched her father eye Gendry with a thinking expression on his face. Ned corrected his glasses and cleared his throat slightly. "Gendry, do you know who your father is?"

"No…" Gendry answered cautiously. "Mom never mentioned his name."

Ned nodded slowly and swallowed, then took a look at his watch. "Well, our cab is here soon so we should go outside. Gendry, it was very nice to meet you." He shook Gendry's hand again. "Arya, we'll let you say your goodbyes. Cat darling, Sansa, come on."

Arya watched her parents and sister move out of the hotel before walking into the lobby with Gendry. "They like you" she told him simply. "Mom is just bad at showing it."

"Yeah" Gendry answered quietly. "Why did he ask me about my father?"

"I don't know…" She really didn't. Arya looked up at her boyfriend with his shaggy hair, striking eyes and stubbled jaw, his strong demeanor yet quite dorky personality. Gods, she was going to miss him.

"So I guess you have to go now…" He smiled at her but Arya could see through it.

"Yeah…" She leaned in and placed her head on his chest for a moment. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck as she in turn wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm going to talk to my dad about transferring as soon as I get home. Either way I'm going to try to take a plane down here before summer's over."

Gendry nodded. "Or maybe I could travel to Winterfell?"

"I'd like that" Arya smiled. The cab honked outside of the door. She reached up and pressed a hard kiss against Gendry's lips. He tightened his grip on her as he responded to the kiss. When they released he kissed her forehead lightly.

"Call me when you land, okay?" he said.

"I will" Arya promised. She gave him one last fleeting kiss and grabbed her suitcase. "Bye, Gendry."

"Bye, Milady!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"Never!"

XXX

The flight didn't seem as long as it was. She and Sansa weren't cold and distant anymore and everyone were just minding their own business. Her dad was writing work-related emails, her mom spent the flight with her nose buried in a Jane Austen novel, Sansa watched some chick flick on her iPad using the plane WiFi and Arya listened to her music and thought about everything from the rest of her family which she would soon see to her college courses to her time with Gendry. Mostly her time with Gendry.

"Dad" she whispered and leaned in so on one else could hear them.

"Yes, my sweet?" he answered just as quietly, probably understanding that Arya wanted to keep this just between the two of them.

"Can we talk about something, later when we get home?"

"Is something wrong?" He sounded worried.

"No, not at all. I just want to talk to you."

Ned nodded. "Alright, first thing when we get home."

XXX

They ordered a pizza when they got home since neither of them could bother to cook after a four hour flight. As they ate, Sansa recounted all her favorite parts of the trip, excluding any part that involved Joffrey. Arya couldn't help but smirk. Somehow she wasn't as opposed to Sansa's ramblings anymore.

She was however very surprised when their mom asked Arya about _her_ favorite part of the trip. Deep inside she knew that her mom wouldn't want her to say Gendry because her mom wasn't referring to a person. So instead she recounted some of the places she had visited with Gendry and also told them about the glass trinket as well as showing them the small silver chain around her neck with a small solitaire ruby, her birthstone, she bought.

After the meal, Arya pulled her father aside into his study to speak to him. "Okay sweet girl" he said and sat down behind his desk. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I want to transfer to King's Landing before the semester starts" Arya answered, deciding that it was better to just face the problem straight ahead rather than beating around the bush.

Ned's face didn't reveal what he was thinking. "And may I ask is it because you've attained a new understanding of the school or because you want to be closer to Gendry?"

"Both!" Arya paused for a second. "I mean, it's not a bad school, but yes, I do want to be closer to Gendry." She didn't even give her father a chance to answer before continuing. "And you said that your concern with my relationship was that it was going to be long distance. This way it won't be."

"Though isn't it a bit fast to move in with him after a week of dating?"

Arya scoffed slightly. "Who said anything about moving in together? My plan was to live in a dorm just as I had if I had accepted my place at the University of Braavos and you were okay with that. But you're not okay with a dorm in King's Landing?"

"I didn't say that. I will talk to your mother about it, and if we can agree on something, I'll make some calls and see if I can pull the strings to get you transferred in time. But I can't make any promises."

A smile broke out on Arya's face. "Really?"

"Really" her father confirmed.

"Oh my god!" Arya sprinted up from her seat and ran over to embrace her father. She couldn't believe it! It was possible. Now if she could convince her mother as well and her father could pull the right strings she would be living in the same city as Gendry by the end of the summer. "Thank you, dad!"

She stayed in her room the whole time her dad made his calls. She was too nervous to stand beside him. Gendry knew what was going on, she had texted him about it had he responded by telling her to call as soon as she knew something.

There was a knock on her door and Arya's father stepped inside. "Do you remember the deal we had for the supposed place at the University of Braavos, Arya?"

Arya nodded, she did remember. "You would pay for the dorm and I would in turn get a job so I wouldn't be completely dependent on you and mom for food, laundry and so on."

"Can you apply those rules for King's Landing as well?" It felt like her father's gray eyes pierced her soul or something.

"Of course" Arya answered. A part of her had expected that deal to make itself present.

"Well then you have a place at the program for linguistics in King's Landing" Ned smiled.

 _Shit!_

Arya squealed and jumped up as if someone had ignited the bed she was sitting on. This was going to be the best three years of her life!

 **The end.**

 **Let me know what y'all think! XXX**


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